The beneficiation and chemical processing of lithium minerals project aims to maximise production of Australia’s lithium resource through improved processing.
By building on our chemical processing capabilities, the project will assist Australia to capture a greater share of the battery value chain in mineral refining.
With rising demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage, there has been rapid development of new mines in Australia.
Many mines have struggled to maximise the amount of concentrate able to be extracted from the raw materials.
As a result, Australia is losing out on the higher value refinery market — worth approximately twice what is generated through producing concentrate.
The project aims to address these challenges to unlock and maximise production of Australia’s lithium resource with lower capital and operating costs and reduced environmental impact. It is also developing cutting-edge cost-effective processing technology to help Australia perform refinery operations widely to capture a greater share of the global refinery market.
“This project is helping to decrease the overall carbon footprint associated with lithium mining and processing in Australia, which in turn will make us more competitive globally and give us an opportunity to capture a larger share of the value in the battery value chain” – Aleks Nikoloski