Lithium Power International Ltd (ASX:LPI) has produced a 99.92% purity from original, concentrated brine from its test evaporation ponds at the Maricunga Lithium Project in Chile.
This significantly exceeds the industry standard specifications for battery-grade lithium carbonate of 99.5%.
Samples will now be sent to potential lithium buyers for analysis as part of LPI’s financing plans for mine construction at Maricunga.
“We are very pleased with these positive results from our latest testing activities," Lithium Power International’s chief executive officer Cristobal Garcia-Huidobro said.
"Not only do they confirm the high quality and consistency of our product, but also the sustainability of our process.
"We are confident that those results will be welcomed by potential off-takers participating in the financing process of the Maricunga project.”
About the testing
LPI entrusted the work to independent certified laboratory, IBZ-Salzchemie GmbH & Co KG in Germany.
Testing was done under the supervision of LPI’s technological partner GEA Messo with the objective of producing up to 10 kilograms of battery-grade Li2CO3.
The chemical analysis and detailed composition of impurities was as follows:
These results are from the latest optimisations introduced to the Maricunga lithium production process in January 2022 in the project’s updated definitive feasibility study (DFS).
A relevant test to measure the Loss of Ignition (LOI) was also conducted for 30 minutes at 500 °C, showing an LOI of 0.2%. As a result, the purity after LOI was 99.72%.
About LPI and Maricunga
Lithium Power International is a pure-play lithium company with three distinct project regions to provide diversification. One is in South America’s brine region and three are in Australia’s spodumene hard rock areas of Western Australia.
The primary focus is to develop Chile’s next high-grade lithium mine on the Maricunga Salar in an area known as the Lithium Triangle. LPI has also expanded its tenement holdings of lithium exploration prospects in Western Australia.
The Maricunga project is adjacent to the Chile-Argentina Highway northeast of Copiapo and 25 kilometres from the port of Caldera. A 23kV power line crosses the property and is connected to Chile’s 220kV power grid.
It is a high-quality resource with high brine grades, high flow characteristics and high drainable porosity and permeability.
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