Lithium is an essential ingredient in lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric cars, as well as rechargeable power for laptops, phones and other devices. It is the lightest of all metals, making it well suited for use in everything from pacemakers to jets.
Lithium does not occur on its own in nature but is found combined with other minerals. At our Jadar project, we discovered lithium in a new mineral in the Jadar Valley in Serbia, now known as jadarite.
Lithium is part of our portfolio of materials essential to a low-carbon future. Lithium is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies including the electrification of transport, large-scale batteries and energy storage. Double digit growth in lithium demand is forecast over the next decade.
Our lithium products
We source our battery-grade lithium in the US from nearly a century’s worth of mining waste rock at our Boron operations in California.
Our process involves roasting and leaching waste rock to recover lithium. Since it involves separating lithium from waste rock that has already been mined, this breakthrough process is a more sustainable alternative to other sources of lithium supply.
Our demonstration plant in California has a design capacity of 10 tonnes per year of battery grade lithium. Priorities in 2021 include optimizing the process to inform our feasibility assessment for progressing to a commercial scale plant. This plant would have an initial capacity of at least 5,000 tonnes per year of lithium, or enough to make batteries for approximately 70,000 electric vehicles.
We produce battery grade lithium carbonate that meets the strict quality assurance standards required by the electric vehicle industry.