Today (May 18), A-share Salt Lake lithium concept stocks rose strongly in the afternoon. As of press time, Koda Manufacturing rose by the daily limit, Lanxiao Technology, Jiuwu Hi-Tech, Tibetan Mining, Zang GE Holdings, Tibet City Investment, and Mount Qomolangma in Tibet all rose by more than 5%.
In terms of news, on May 16, the first meeting of the leading group on the preparation of the action plan for the construction of a world-class salt lake industrial base was held in Xining to deliberate and discuss the "Action Plan for the Construction of a World-class Salt Lake Industrial Base (first draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan").
Next, the leading group for the preparation of the action plan for the construction of a world-class salt lake industrial base plans to hold a meeting of domestic experts on the Action Plan in Beijing on May 20 to listen to the specific opinions of well-known academicians and experts and scholars in the domestic salt lake field on the evaluation, revision and improvement of the Action Plan (draft), so as to ensure that the action plan is more scientific, forward-looking and operable.
Although the action plan has not been formally finalized, lithium extraction from Salt Lake has once again become a hot topic in the market.
Lithium price rising enough to extract lithium from salt lake is expected to become the cornerstone of global lithium supply.
Lithium is one of the essential raw materials for power batteries and energy storage batteries, which is related to the development of new energy vehicles and photovoltaic industry, and is a strategic resource to achieve the goal of carbon neutralization.
Recently, the price of lithium raw materials has accelerated upward, and domestic low-cost and high-quality resources have ushered in a revaluation opportunity.
Compared with other lithium extraction methods, lithium extraction from salt lake has the advantage of resource scale. Of the global proven lithium resources, 58% are salt lake brine types, 26% are pegmatite solid lithium deposits, and the rest include clay, oil fields and geothermal brine. About 79% of China's local proven lithium resources are salt lake types.
On the other hand, the cost advantage of extracting lithium from salt lake is significant. The cash cost of producing lithium carbonate in salt lakes is in the range of 2000-4000 US dollars / ton, and the extraction of lithium from vertically integrated ores needs 4200-6000 US dollars / ton, so the appearance of lithium extraction from salt lakes has reshaped the price system of the global lithium industry.
GE Jun, an analyst at Minmetals Securities, said in a research report on April 6 that the extraction of lithium from the salt lake is expected to become the cornerstone of the global lithium supply. In the green energy era when the global demand for new energy vehicles and energy storage is growing rapidly, it is imperative to strengthen the development of global salt lake lithium resources.
Industrial Application of Lithium extraction from Salt Lake needs to be popularized the Technology of Lithium extraction is the fastest in Qinghai
Although lithium extraction from salt lakes is highly expected, its output accounts for only about 46% in 2020, and more than half of it is still occupied by minerals.
From a global point of view, the industrial application of lithium extraction technology from salt lake is weaker than that of spodumene, which is not only determined by the difference of lithium resource endowment and location limitations, but also due to the inherent limitations of the traditional precipitation process.
China is rich in lithium salt lake resources, with salt lake brine water resources accounting for 90%, mainly concentrated in Qinghai and Tibet. However, due to the poor quality of salt lake resources, complex composition, harsh production environment and other factors, the degree of development of domestic salt lake resources is also low.
With the rapid development of new energy industry, the demand for lithium salt is growing explosively. In order to get rid of the high dependence on overseas spodumene supply as soon as possible, it is urgent to enrich the supply channels of raw materials for lithium salt production.
Qinghai is undoubtedly the region with the most remarkable technological progress in lithium extraction from salt lakes in the world. after long-term exploration, optimization and continuous investment, it has broken through the extraction of lithium from brine with high mg-Li ratio and low lithium content. at present, the main salt lakes, such as Chaerhan (adsorption), Dongtai (electrodialysis), Xitai (temporary calcination method) and Yili Ping (membrane separation), have found processes suited to their own brine characteristics.
According to a research report released by Stone Forest, an analyst at Huaan Securities, in the future, the technical research on lithium extraction from salt lake will mainly focus on optimizing the front-end lithium extraction capacity and back-end lithium salt production. It is suggested to pay attention to the electrochemical de-intercalation method of Zhongnan lithium industry, the improved adsorption method of Jiuwo Hi-Tech, and the bipolar membrane electrodialysis method used in the field of lithium hydroxide production.
GE Jun, an analyst at Minmetals Securities, said that Ganfeng Lithium Industry, which builds a global regional diversified raw material base and distributes various types of lithium resources in salt lakes, ores and clay, as well as Koda Manufacturing, which is strategically owned and ploughed by Lanke Lithium Industry, can continue to be focused on.
