Lithium Chemicals

Traditional means of producing lithium chemical creates inherent industry challenges that ELi™ looks to address:

• Lithium is the key non-substitutable battery ingredient transporting electric charge, and the World needs more;
• Europe has a very small supply of lithium chemicals with demand growing rapidly;
• Despite being crucial for the energy transition, lithium production is the largest CO₂ contributor in lithium-ion batteries (LIB);
• Primary extraction companies often don’t have means to produce chemicals and need a market for mined intermediate or support to produce chemicals; and
• Lithium chemical production needs to be more cost effective and more sustainable.

ELi™ has several advantages over conventional processes including lower operating expenditures, higher product purity and a smaller CO₂ footprint largely owing to lower process reagent consumption. The patented ELi™ Processing Technology underpins Neometals’ unique Lithium Chemical proposition:

• Significant operating and capital cost advantages courtesy of a reduced need for expensive reagents;
• Environmental benefits including potential for net zero vanadium production;
• Partnership with Portugals largest chemical business with existing facilities, supply chain and electrolysis expertise; and
• Flexible and replicable business models.

RAM is co-developing in Europe with Portugal’s largest chemical producer, Bondalti Chemicals S.A. (“Bondalti”). The Portuguese refinery operation will source / process brine feedstocks and leverage Bondalti’s supply chain, infrastructure and operating expertise. A proposed 25,000tpa lithium refinery at Estarreja aims to produce battery quality lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. Piloting and demonstration will precede commercial refining at Bondalti’s existing chlor-alkali operations. RAM is initially targeting the European market, where there is a large deficit of battery raw materials.