Lithium from salt-lake brines emerges in China’s battery market

SHANGHAI, Jun 20 (SMM) – Lithium from salt-lake brines is expected to become increasingly important in China’s lithium-ion battery sector as industrial policy-makers plan to update standards for battery-grade lithium hydroxide with a new piece of requirement that targets materials extracted from salt-lake brines.

The National Technical Committee for Standardization of Nonferrous Metals met on June 18 in Jiangxi, and planned to roll out new standards for battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

SMM learned that the committee is considering adding an examination standard for boron (B) and magnetic foreign body. This reflected market expectations for greater applications of lithium hydroxide extracted from salt-lake brines in the battery market as materials extracted from spodumene do not contain boron.

Producing lithium hydroxide from salt-lake brines has yet to achieve stable quality, which deterred wide adoption of such materials in lithium-ion batteries.

The new standards are also likely to add a line to classify crystalline and micronised lithium hydroxide monohydrate.