I had the opportunity to spend 3 days with SQM Litio in Northern Chile to visit the largest Lithium mine in the world. 🇨🇱 Chile is the second largest producer of Lithium products to the EV battery supply chain 💸 SQM has obtained cost leadership for Lithium carbonate by using direct solar power to concentrate their natural brines to 4.7% #Lithium in brine. Direct solar power means the sun shines onto the ponds and evaporates the water. The desert of Atacama is the driest place on earth, yet the subsurface brines in the aquifer are among the highest Li concentration brines on earth. ⛑ Working here is one of the toughest jobs. The Mineros work in the salar at high altitude , continuously being exposed to very high UV radiation, extreme temperature swings from minus 10 in the morning to plus 30 degrees at midday. To us they are the true heroes / heroines. Without them there would be no #energytransition. For us it was an opportunity to gain a more intimate understanding of SQM's challenges and present our vision. 💹 We found that SQM has three real challenges 1️⃣ Reducing water consumption significantly - the salar is a very delicate aquifer system. 2️⃣ Improving yield - currently the process only recovers 55% of Lithium contained in the brine 3️⃣ Reducing contaminant entrainment - removing contaminants such as Boron, Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium accounts for the majority of opex. For example, cost of the reagent soda ash for Magnesium removal alone accounts for 30% of cost of production and creates significant waste salt load that need dealing with. Switching to #DLE Direct Lithium Extraction would address all three issues in the long term. Will SQM risk loosing cost leadership by doing so?
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Vera Bilusic
8mo
The lithium extraction issues. I hope that solutions will be provided.
Contract & Consulting Engineer | Automation | Intelligent Sensors & Digital Systems
5moThank you for sharing your observations and insights.