@knotnauti - I'm not sure if you're genuinely floundering in the dark, or just haven't put in the research, or are failing to understand a few fundamentals??
I'll try to help you understand... but more importantly, maybe this is something that the broader community will benefit from.
I'm starting from the end of your post and working back.
"The Rincon Salar areas Agy draw from i think are still at varying depths and different parts of the farm so there will still be variations in its own brine concentrate."
Yes - correct... the brine is being sucked out of the salar with a big straw. But as already covered off, AGY analysis shows the brine is homogenous, ie many samples returned similar results - which is favourable as it better enables a process solution/treatment.
"Much like it would be preferable for Agy to have a stockpile of consistent composition from all its wells so PA can get consistency and not need to keep adjusting his process much for each batch."
Whilst starting the process with a homogenous source of brine is a great starting point, given the highly precise chemical composition specifications for final end product, it's inevitable that each batch of harvested brine with necessitate customised chemical processing. This is exactly what PA is currently testing to replicate results from varying batches of LCE product to ensure product
quality consistency.
"So then can that battery maker use Agy BG Lce and blend it into its feedstock of a different composition from a different Lce supplier and still maintain the same quality and efficiencies without having to adjust its process dramatically."
I think you're failing to understand that battery manufacturers currently aren't just taking LCE from suppliers and blindly feeding them into their production lines.... and whilst I can't categorically know this - I doubt battery manufacturers aren't currently sourcing their LCE exclusively from single sources anyway. However even if they are, a key factor is that all battery manufacturers currently have to undertake further processing of LCE to ensure it meets their requirements.
"... as Agy production volume will be relatively small in the short term and not really enough to supply a paticular battery maker exclusively."
Correct - Roman wasn't built in a day! At this stage of the game, AGY isn't trying to flood the market with product, instead, they are making an intelligent play of working with battery manufacturers to demonstrate that AGY can be a valuable part of their supply chain by providing a consistent quality product that can reduce their production downtimes and overheads. As a result, they demonstrate that they've value - added their product which leads to them being a preferred provider and setting the benchmark.
Hence proving their process is what will potentially lead to strategic investment to unlock Stg 3+ so that they can produce a quality product in larger quantities.
As I said before... yes, achieving the high quality/specifications for battery manufacturing is technically challenging, but it isn't impossible - battery manufacturers are already doing it. But what is new, is for an LCE miner/producer to supply a consistent high quality LCE product that manufacturers can rely on to both reduce their production and overhead costs and produce a quality product (that won't cause your phone to self destruct whilst it's in your pocket.... ouch!
