Schöne Grüße Maxi, Didn't know Bacchus had Rio ties, might be...

Schöne Grüße Maxi,
Didn't know Bacchus had Rio ties, might be clutching at straws here a little (feeling a little delirious from marking and managing a baby/anxious wife at home) did you see that release earlier in the week from Rio (one of many links here)?

They claim they can extract lithium from borate tailings 'undertaking some other secret procedures with the waste' and that: '...the gloomy backdrop (surrounding lithium) has not dimmed Rio's enthusiasm.'

Also: 'If the trials continue to prove successful, this has the potential to becomeAmerica’s largest domestic producer of battery-grade lithium.'

'Rio is spending $10 million on a pilot plant in California in a bid to expand on the work to date, and the next decision will be whether to spend $50 million on a plant capable of producing 5000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent a year.'
Interestingly, in all of the articles I skim read, they neglected to mention what % they obtained.

I don't know much about borates - but apparently borates are used in glass manufacturing, ceramics, fertiliser and cleaning products among many other uses. Are borates even compatible with any of the 'Max' processes???