Deutsche Bank & DSO, page-3

Recovery rate is a factor in the initial concentration step.
Figure on 50% as a good guide and DB use this calculation too.
The worst reading of their figures could be interpreted as 120t to 1t of lithium.
ie 6m tons to makes 50kt of lithium.


I wouldn't be so quick to guestimate that it will end up as a rosy experiment.
The Chinese don't have local spodumene and the local lepidolite plants may be set up quite differently. Shandong Ruifu planned to use a nickel plant and this also may not work out for them at all. Certainly the scale required is astonishing. Perhaps stockpiling is the real motive?

That 10k is not what MIN pocket. Its my very rough estimate of costs via this method.
MIN would be getting a tiny fraction as China is doing all the processing.

And yes. It would be like turning lithium into iron ore.