Lithium Energy Ltd (ASX:LEL) has completed a successful laboratory program with Norlab SRL, producing the first battery-grade (99.5% purity) lithium carbonate sample from brine sourced at the flagship Solaroz Lithium Brine Project in Argentina.
It marks an important milestone for the company, providing proof of concept and informing key design criteria for the project’s development.
Norlab program results
Norlab used a representative sample of Solaroz brine with a test feed grade of 397 milligrams per litre (mg/l) lithium for the sample, indicating a strong lithium recovery rate of 71% from the base feedstock.
The sample program has provided important information on design criteria for the project’s evaporation ponds, with metrics including:
- Indicated lithium recovery rate of up to 71%;
- Industrial water consumption rates;
- Lime consumption rates;
- Salt quantities and chemistry;
- Reagent consumption amounts;
- Brine chemistry at each of the key stages of the LC production process; and
- Pond sizing chemistry
In concert with the laboratory program, LEL completed its first batch of on-site evaporation tests, using brine from the same drill hole in two ponds.
Solaroz evaporation ponds on-site
The tests have provided data on daily evaporation rates and brine chemistry, offering site-based environmental information for the work required to advance to production.
The company has since emptied and cleaned the ponds, which will be refilled to gather further information on seasonal differences at the project site.