I agree that the ponds for now (38ha and big enough for Stage 2)...

I agree that the ponds for now (38ha and big enough for Stage 2) are out of question - and they are already built and filled.
Of course you could run Stage 3 as well in a conventional way, I was just wondering if this will be regarded as "sustainable" in the future.
We are advertising that we are a "green" company, which is true to the point that we have a solar plant in the direct neighbourhood and could draw our energy from there. To concentrate the brine this still needs evaporation.
Regarding the chemical process (Pablo's secret sauce) we claim low energy use and low raw water consumption. Maybe it would be worth while to promote this in more detail to qualify for the perception of AGY being "sustainable". This is still one of the major points battery companies and manufacturers of battery electric vehicles are criticized for and which needs to be overcome.

@ Dragonslayer: I did my research, that is why I am sitting on 10 bags with LKE. I am completely unaware of them planning to pump chemicals into the brine. They first concentrate the brine and pump back the water and then do ion-exchange to extract BG-lithium.

Finally to put my money where my mouth is - just ordered some more