Lake Resources closer to revolutionising lithium chemical industry with disruptive technology

Lake Resources managing director Steve Promnitz and chairman Stu Crow speak with Small Caps about the company’s plans to revolutionise the lithium sector using technology partner Lilac Solutions’ sustainable treatment technology. Lake Resources plans to commercially use Lilac’s direct extraction technology to remove lithium from brines sourced from its Kachi project in Argentina. According to Lake Resources, this technology can sustainably and ethically produce a 99.97% pure lithium carbonate that is commercially competitive and exceeds global battery grade standards in time to meeting forecast increased demand.

Lake Resources’ (ASX: LKE) has stepped to the forefront in its plan to “revolutionise” and “disrupt” the global lithium-ion battery sector with its technology partner Lilac Solution’s unique “clean”, highly efficient, low cost and scalable technology on lithium brine.

According to Lake, Lilac’s direct extraction technology is an adaption of a known water treatment method and involves returning 99% of the brine back to its source without changing the chemistry.

The technology does not require evaporation or mining, which are currently used to procure lithium from either brine or hard rock projects. As a result, it has a much smaller environmental footprint and consumes much less water.

Lilac’s technology effectively involves removing the lithium from the brine. Lake claims it is also more efficient and faster – taking days, not months or even years to recover the lithium.

Compared to a traditional lithium brine operation, the Lilac technology enables higher recoveries, and purity, with the process also competitive on cost and easily scalable.

Leading business leaders back Lilac technology

In February this year, Bill Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Ventures backed Lilac in a US$20 million investment round together with MIT’s Engine fund.

Breakthrough Energy’s investors include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, co-founder of Alibaba Jack Ma, and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg.

The $1 billion fund was established to support companies with promising technology that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts.

“This is quality, third party validation in Lake selecting Lilac as our technology provider – providing increased efficiency in recoveries and a shorter time to market with sustainable lithium products and a smaller environmental footprint without expansive evaporation ponds,” Lake managing director Steve Promnitz said at the time.

Mr Promnitz added the Lilac process has been de-risked with test work and successful operation of a pilot plant.

“This process isn’t really new – just an adaptation of a well-used water treatment method, but now focused on lithium.”

Recent advances in lithium carbonate production

During the September quarter, Lake has taken the clean lithium chloride product produced by Lilac’s pilot plant and created a 99.97% high-purity lithium carbonate from brine at its Kachi project in Argentina.

This conversion, completed by Hazen Research, an independent renowned group, uses a simple flowsheet that doesn’t make any significant change to the estimated low operating cost.

According to Lake, the lithium carbonate generated by Hazen had a 70% reduction in the overall impurity levels compared to Lake’s earlier 99.9% lithium carbonate product.

It also has a 94% decline in impurities compared to the market’s widely accepted “battery grade” 99.5% lithium carbonate material.

“This process optimisation was a critical step prior to production of larger volumes of high purity lithium carbonate samples,” the company stated.

Hazen is continuing to produce lithium carbonate samples for offtake parties, starting with 5-6kg sample in its current round of processing.

Further brine from Kachi will be sent to Lilac to produce additional samples.

Lake’s lithium carbonate strategy

Using Lilac and Hazen technologies to create the high purity lithium carbonate, Lake’s strategy is to source brine from its wholly-owned Kachi project in Argentina’s Catamarca province.

Kachi comprises 37 mining leases spanning 70,400 hectares and hosts a 4.4 million tonne lithium carbonate equivalent resource.

The resource is open laterally and at depth, with Lake estimating an exploration target of 8-17Mt lithium carbonate equivalent.

The project controls an entire salt lake in the renowned “lithium triangle” and is close to Livent’s Hombre Muerto operation, which is the longest running lithium brine project in Argentina.

At Kachi, Lake will use Lilac’s technology, with Hazen’s input, to create a superior lithium carbonate product for the market that can attract a premium price without any significant changes to the operating cost set out in the prefeasibility study released in April.

Lake anticipates the superior lithium carbonate product will attract “substantially higher prices” than it previously envisaged.

The prefeasibility study, produced by a tier one engineering firm, Hatch, indicated the company would secure US$11,000 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent based on the 99.9% purity product.

Hazen’s refinements, along with updated price expectations, will be incorporated into the definitive feasibility study.

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• lithium