LKE (ASX) DLE related information

Originally posted by Fantasyboy: ↑

It fits to this thread well, and is worth reading through this part of the latest CCR report on LKE about the DLE technology:

"The ESG thematicESG benefits vary across Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) projects
Tracking and reporting of carbon emissions, as well as water flows and usage, will be key to establishing the true value of LKE’s ESG credentials. Recently, Vulcan released its ESG score and significant market outperformance followed. LKE has stated that they also plan to undertake such an analysis however, we are not aware of the timetable at this stage.
In March 2021, BMW announced a €285m lithium offtake agreement with Livent, for supply from its Argentinian brine project. The key driver for this agreement was the projects perceived ESG credentials despite using a combination of evaporation ponds and DLE. Despite this, BMW identified Livent's project as undertaking “responsible extraction of lithium in Argentina”. It is understood that Livent uses an “adsorption bead method” to extract the lithium from the concentrate and has been using this dual extraction process to concentrate the lithium since early 2000’s.
LKE will not be using evaporation ponds to concentrate the lithium. LKE was concerned about project delays and lack of approvals for evaporation ponds on lithium projects in Chile and the lack of water sustainability. This caused LKE to reassess how they might develop the Kachi deposit. Early on, LKE sought to proactively seek out disruptive technology that could not only improve lithium quality and yields but was also water efficient.
Lilac Solutions Inc, backed by the Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Fund, had developed such a technology. The process is 100% DLE, meaning no evaporation ponds are used to concentrate the brine. As the process uses the “ion exchange method” rather than the “adsorption bead method”, water loss should be significantly less and once the lithium has been extracted from the brine, the water (brine) is returned to the reservoir.
We find this water sustainability aspect interesting, as BMW was attracted to the Livent project not only because it had un-contracted supplies available but also because “Livent employs an innovative method, that emphasises sustainable water use and minimises the impact on local ecosystems and communities”. CCR believes it will be very interesting to see how these two projects compare when data is finally available. On the surface, it would appear the Lilac Solutions DLE method might have an edge over the hybrid DLE method used by Livent with lower water use. We suggest BMW may see scaling or delivery risk with LKE and not with Livent. We wonder; how long can OEM’s maintain this passive view?

Is the Lilac Process water intensive?It is reported to use the lowest amount of water of any DLE process under investigation. The Lilac process was specifically designed to extract lithium from brines in arid to semi arid areas where available fresh water, used in processing, is scarce. To combat this, the Lilac process uses acid to strip the beads and not fresh water as occurs with other methods, where water shortages are not as critical. Process water is also low.

Key disruptive features of Clean Tech as outlined by Lilac and LKE;
• No mining, crushing or evaporation ponds required
• Simple project flowsheet is more efficient (lower cost and very fast…hours versus years!)
• Doubles lithium recoveries – concentrates from 45% to 83.2% effectively doubling reserves
• No water politics – as 99% of brine is re-injected back into the reservoir; and
• 90% smaller physical project footprint; and Delivers a constant product quality."

Expand

How is Lilac achieving 83.2% recoveries doubling the reserves of lithium? Essentially they’re sending almost 1 of 5 tonnes back down the hole, or decreasing the reserve by 16.8%?

No water politics? LKE announcement states they’ll be pumping from freshwater aquifers for production plant freshwater usage?

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(20min delay)
Last 4.4¢		Change -0.003(6.38%)		Mkt cap ! $73.17M

Open	High	Low	Value	Volume
4.6¢	4.7¢	4.4¢	$269.8K	5.910M

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