Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) (or ‘the Company’), together with...

1. Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) (or ‘the Company’), together with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (‘ANSTO’), continues its R&D of the Company’s ground-breaking LieNA® proprietary technology for the recovery of lithium from spodumene, the most common hard-rock source of lithium for the production of critical battery chemicals.

   While the recovery rate of lithium from conventional spodumene beneficiation varies, it can be as low as 50% owing to the concentrate offtake specification constraints applied by thermal convertors. LieNA® (which, importantly, does not require a roasting stage) can recover lithium from the fine spodumene that otherwise reports to waste or tailings streams during current concentration processes.

   Being able to utilise the fine spodumene that would otherwise go to waste, LieNA® has the potential to not only expand current hard-rock lithium resources, thereby reducing mining costs, but also enhance the sustainability of spodumene production and subsequent manufacture of lithium chemicals.

   Recent receipt of the ‘Notice of Acceptance’ from IP Australia for Lithium Australia’s LieNA® patent application (filed in August 2017) is vindication of the value of the Company’s intellectual property.

   Lithium Australia has also received notification from WIPO that its patent application for the second-generation LieNA® process technology, which includes the enhancements achieved by recovering lithium phosphate, has been published.