Ann: Trading Halt, page-126

There are two main raw material sources that form the start of the supply chaim: Hard Rock and Brine.
Alita mines Hard Rock in the form of Spodumene which it processes to a concentrate of high quality to meet a minimum standard referred to as SC6. The 6 represents the percentage of Lithium contained in the concentrate (note Alita regularly exceeds this grade).

Alita ships it's concentrate internationally to Spodumene Converters which process the SC6 into Lithium Chemicals; typically either Lithium Carbonate (Li2CO3) or Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH). Given Alita's high grade and low impurity concentrate its safe to assume it is destined for battery use.

In the case of battery end use, these post conversion Li Chemicals find their way downstream to manufacturers of Cathodes (Positive electrodes) where they are combined with various elements depending on the intended final product.

For electric vehicles Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4 or LFP) and Lithium Nickle Manganese Cobolt Oxide (LiMnCoO2 or NMC) are common cathode formulations most often found in EVs. The cathode composition preferred by Tesla for EVs that rarely gets a mention is Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (NCA or LiNiCoAlO2). Tesla uses NMC tech for their utility storage.

LFP and some NMC batteries - which are designated based on ratio of materials - utilize Lithium Carbonate (NMC111 & NMC422), while more advanced high performance NCM batteries (NMC811) require LiOH due to stability issues. NMC622 can utilize either Li2CO3 or LiOH.

The Lithium-ion batteries you will commonly find in mobile phones, power tools and other electronics are Lithium Cobaltate (LiCoO2) however they are unsuitable for EVs due to safety issues when damaged.

Lithium chemicals are also utilized in the electrolyte liquid that seperates the anode and cathode whilst enabling the flow of ions. The particular Lithium Chemicals used in the electrolyte are specialty products.

The final downstream step for Lithium battery production is assembly where the Electrolytes are sandwiched between the Cathode and an Anode that is often produced from Graphite or Silicon.

These assembled batteries are either a lower quality prismatic form (essentially a flat rectangular shape) or what many consider to be a higher quality form called an 18650 or 2170 cylinder construction that resemble slightly larger versions of a AA battery. Cylindrical battery cells have significant advantages over prismatic however they are technically difficult and more complicated to produce and are more expensive to produce as a result.

Tesla has used 7104 '18650' battery cells for a pack containing 16 modules of 444 cells for potential of 85kWh of storage for EVs. It's 100kWh EV pack contains 8256 battery cells. Tesla is currently incorporating slightly larger '2170' improved cells. I don't think many people realize how many small individual cells are required.

Summary of Lithium supply chain for Alita in EVs
Spodumene mining and concentration (Alita) - > Spodumene Conversion to Li Chemical (Typical offtake partner) - > Cathode production - > Battery assembly.

Hopefully that helps. I apologize for any errors in advance.
AIMHO