Saudi Aramco and Saudi Mining Will Establish a Lithium Mine Joint Venture [Overseas Lithium News]

Published: Jan 17, 2025 17:56

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【Overseas Lithium News】 ► Pilbara Minerals Secures AUD 15 Million Grant from Western Australian Government for Lithium Midstream Demonstration Plant Project ► Saudi Aramco and Saudi Mining to Establish Lithium Mine Joint Venture ► Vulcan Energy Produces First Batch of Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide in Germany ► CleanTech Lithium Successfully Trials Production of 99.78% Purity Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate in the US

Pilbara Minerals Secures AUD 15 Million Grant from Western Australian Government for Lithium Mid-Stream Demonstration Plant Project

Pilbara Minerals has received AUD 15 million in funding support from the Western Australian Government for its "Mid-Stream Demonstration Plant Project" located at the Pilgangoora lithium mine in the Pilbara region.

The project is a collaboration between Pilbara Minerals and Calix Limited, aiming to construct a demonstration-scale plant equipped with the world's first industrial-scale electric spodumene calciner. The calciner is designed to decarbonise the most energy-intensive stage of lithium processing, thereby reducing carbon emissions. By producing higher-lithium-content mid-stream products, Pilbara Minerals expects the plant to lower transportation-related emissions, improve resource efficiency, and create greater overall value in the battery materials supply chain.

In October this year, Pilbara Minerals and Calix announced that the construction of the demonstration plant would be temporarily postponed due to challenges in the lithium market and additional funding requirements, as some contracts had not yet been signed.

Saudi Aramco and Ma’aden to Establish Lithium Mining Joint Venture

Saudi Arabia's Aramco and Ma’aden have signed a non-binding agreement to establish a joint venture focused on energy transition minerals, including lithium extraction. Commercial lithium production is expected to commence in 2027.

The agreement was announced at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh and aims to leverage Aramco's technological capabilities and Ma’aden's mining expertise to extract lithium from high-concentration deposits and develop cost-effective Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology.

Aramco's participation in the joint venture marks its strategic expansion beyond its traditional oil and gas business. The company has confirmed lithium concentrations of up to 400 ppm in certain areas of Saudi Arabia and plans to utilize its 90 years of geological data and existing infrastructure to develop these resources.

Vulcan Energy Produces First Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide in Germany

Vulcan Energy has announced the successful production of its first batch of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate at its Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) in Frankfurt-Höchst.

This lithium hydroxide was processed from high-purity lithium chloride concentrate extracted from geothermal brine at Vulcan's Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP) in Landau.

The CLEOP plant began operations in November 2024 and will serve as a design blueprint for Vulcan's future commercial facilities. The company's Phase 1 "Lionheart" project aims to produce 24,000 mt of lithium hydroxide annually. Both the optimisation plant and future commercial facilities are located near key European automotive and battery customers, including Stellantis, Renault, LG, and Umicore.

CleanTech Lithium Successfully Produces 99.78% Purity Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate in the USCleanTech Lithium has announced the successful production of high-purity lithium carbonate with a purity level of 99.78% at its pilot plant in the US, exceeding China's GB/T 23853-2022 (Type I) battery-grade lithium carbonate standard. However, further optimisation is required to address specific impurity concentration issues.

This batch of lithium carbonate was refined at Conductive Energy's facility in Chicago, US, using concentrated eluate produced at CleanTech Lithium's Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot plant in Copiapó, Chile. The process employed iFO (inverted forward osmosis) technology to concentrate lithium to 14,350 mg/L, achieving a 6.5-fold increase in concentration. After purification, carbonisation, and polishing stages, the final product was converted into battery-grade lithium carbonate. An 8 kg sample of the trial product has been confirmed to meet high-purity standards.

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