Lithium Australia Signs Keys LieNA Development Agreements

Preparing To Take Next-Generation Lithium Recovery Process To Market

Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT) has executed a commercialisation agreement and commenced pilot plant construction in two key milestones in the development of the company’s LieNA caustic conversion process for the recovery of lithium from spodumene.

The company’s commercialisation agreement with Deutsche Rohstoff AG (DRAG), a German natural resources holding and investment company, provides for the issue of an exclusive LieNA licence in Europe, subject to DRAG:

• subscribing for 3,125,000 fully paid ordinary shares in the capital of Lithium Australia for A$250,000 at commencement;
• subscribing for A$400,000 of fully paid ordinary shares in the capital of Lithium Australia priced at 125% of the 30-day VWAP for those shares on the day that construction of the pilot plant is completed;
• paying Lithium Australia A$400,000 on delivery of a positive, European-based pre- feasibility study, and
• paying a 2% gross royalty on product generated through application of the LieNA process in Europe.

Lithium Australia Managing Director, Adrian Griffin, also revealed that construction of an autoclave, the principal component of the pilot plant, has begun in Mumbai, India.

The company anticipates delivery of the autoclave to Australia in October 2021, with plant construction at ANSTO to be completed before the end of the year to enable the first pilot run.

“The lithium-ion battery industry does need to reduce its environmental footprint, and the improved recoveries afforded by LieNA could lead to the production of more lithium chemical units from the same sized mining excavation – and at a lower unit cost,” Mr Griffin said.

“The company’s R&D programme, which is co-funded by a federal government research grant, will provide a more sustainable pathway for battery production. Lithium Australia’s commercialisation of its LieNA process is well underway.”

LieNA development programme

The Company’s LieNA conversion process – already extensively bench tested at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights facility in New South Wales, Australia – directly digests fine and/or low-grade spodumene in a caustic solution at elevated temperature and pressure to produce lithium sodalite (a solid aluminosilicate mineral).

The lithium is then easily leached out with acid. Importantly, LieNA can be applied to much of the spodumene discharged to tailings by existing concentrators. Further, no roasting is required and water utlisation is better than that of conventional processes.

In February 2020, the company was awarded a CRC-P grant as part of a $3.6 million development programme that includes the construction and operation of a LieNA pilot plant. Partners in that programme include ANSTO, Essential Metals Ltd, VSPC Ltd, ALS Metallurgy Pty Ltd, Murdoch University, Curtin University and Carnac Project Delivery Services.

To date, spodumene samples have been recovered by drilling at the Pioneer Dome project of Essential Metals Ltd, with a spodumene concentrate then produced by ALS Metallurgy to provide initial feed for the pilot plant. That feed will be used to produce a refined lithium phosphate product suitable for the direct production of lithium ferro phosphate (‘LFP’) cathode powder.

The LieNA development programme will culminate in a preliminary feasibility study to evaluate its viability in a number of jurisdictions, including Australia and Europe.