Too much smack talk going on in these forums, lets inject some intellect back into the discussion shall we?
First off, lets clarify -- the company is not doing "nothing" while in care & maintenance.
what's occurring?1) Using the learnings from the 2,000 plant (including issues encountered) to finish the 10,000 plant engineering plans (in collaboration with a third-party engineering firm).
2) once the engineering plans are done, the FID (Financial Investment Decision) paperwork can be done. Which basically includes all the information a "strategic partner" would want to know when injecting money to fund the 10,000 TPA plant. (I have now learnt to ignore any carrots on a stick in relation to strategic partnerships until that FID is complete (ffs)
3) Upgrading the JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, based on new strategic tenement acquisitions at the Project (an Indicated MRE of 606,313 tonnes Li2CO3 with a weighted mean average lithium concentration of 326mg/L, and)
4) As revealed by the half-yearly accounts, intentions have been articulated to start this year the paperwork for the 24,000 TPA environmental permits (signs to me, that despite all the knowledge they know of what's going on behind the scenes their long-term view is intact).
Lithium Chemistry lately i've studied chemistry to really understand and appreciate the process involved with producing Lithium Carbonate. Here's some knowledge for you that we all should have learnt about ages ago when investing in a lithium brine company.
Lithium Carbonate is Li2CO3
which is essentially:
- 2 atoms of lithium
- 1 atom of carbon
- 3 atoms of oxygen
You can determine how many kg of "lithium" in 1 tonne of lithium carbonate by reviewing the molecular weights of each elements.
Li2CO3 - Lithium Carbonate - molecular weight: 73.89g
Li2 - Lithium (2 atoms) - molecular weight: 2 x 6.94 = 13.88g
C - Carbon (1 atom) - molecular weight: 1 x 12.01g = 12.01g
O3 - Oxygen (3 atoms) - molecular weight: 3 x 16g = 48g
lithium component of 1 tonne of Lithium carbonate = 13.88g / 73.89g x 1000kg
= 188kg of lithiumHow many L of brine requiredwith said concentration of 326mg/L of litihum to make 188kg of lithium required for 1 tonne of lithium carbonate it would require
a minimum of 576,687L of brine.
188,000,000mg / 326mg = 576,687
jesus thats a lot of liquid....
(it would be more than that in reality due to lithium lost throughout various stages of intending to filter out the impurities, but instead filtering some lithium too)
The Chemistry Process- Here is a spreadsheet i compiled containing the drilling results from the 2017 drilling, and the 2023 drilling.
Spreadsheet- I have included a map in the spreadsheet so you can see which holes were drilled where. You can see the R1, R2, and PR00B region is the most lithium rich.
- In relation to make Lithium Carboante from brine the jist is you add Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) to the lithium brine (Li) which makes the lithium within the liquid brine precipitate (turn to solid, which the solid lithium can then be filtered out from the liquid solution).
Lithium + Sodium Carbonate = Lithium Carbonate + Sodium.
However, impurities within the brine can impede in this process by one of two ways, either:
-
(1) Competing with lithium in the precipitation process, i.e. also turning to solid when Sodium Carbonate is added (so when you filter out the lithium carbonate when sodium carbonate is added you don't just have lithium carbonate, you also have other solids).
-
(2) can be left within the liquid brine at the end when the pricipation of lithium is done, but can affect filtering out the lithium carbonte solid at the end, and can affect purity ratios, and ion exchanges in the chemistry.
List of impurities and what they do (skip past 12 if you dont want to read that bit, i would rather you read the rest and not lose interet)
1. Calcium (Ca)- Impact on Lithium Extraction: (i.e. reason 1) High calcium levels can lead to the formation of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃ when sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃ is added, which can precipitate before lithium can. This reduces lithium yields.
- Removal Method: Typically precipitated as CaCO₃ by adjusting the pH to above 8.5 using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or sodium carbonate.
2. Magnesium (Mg)- Impact on Lithium Precipitation: (i.e. reason 1) Magnesium competes with lithium for precipitation. When sodium carbonate is added to the brine, both lithium and magnesium can precipitate as lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃ and magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃, respectively. High magnesium concentrations can lead to reduced lithium recovery and increased processing costs.
- Removal Method: Precipitation of magnesium as magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)₂ or magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃ is often done by raising the pH to around 9-10.
3. Boron (B)- Impact on Lithium Quality: (i.e. reason 2) Boron can complicate the production of battery-grade lithium compounds since it is often considered a contaminant. It does not directly affect precipitation but needs to be controlled to ensure high purity.
- Removal Method: Ion exchange or selective precipitation can effectively remove boron from the brine.
4. Sodium (Na)- Impact on Lithium Extraction: (i.e. reason 2) High sodium concentrations can dilute the lithium concentration in brine, impacting the efficiency of lithium recovery processes. It can also complicate subsequent crystallization processes for lithium salts.
- Removal Method: Typically managed through crystallization and selective separation methods like ion exchange.
5. Potassium (K)- Impact on Lithium Recovery: (i.e. reason 1 & 2) Like sodium, potassium can affect ionic balance and compete for precipitation. While it generally has a lesser effect than magnesium or calcium, it can still dilute lithium concentrations.
- Removal Method: Can be reduced through crystallization processes and selective separation techniques.
6. Barium (Ba)- Impact on Lithium Processing: Barium can precipitate with sulfate ions to form barium sulfate (BaSO₄, which can clog filtration systems and complicate the separation of lithium salts.
- Removal Method: Precipitation of barium as BaSO₄ is common, often by adding sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄ to the brine.
7. Strontium (Sr)- Impact on Lithium Processing: Similar to barium, strontium can also precipitate with sulfate, leading to unwanted scaling in processing equipment. It can complicate the purification and affect the quality of lithium compounds.
- Removal Method: Precipitated as strontium sulfate (SrSO₄ or removed through ion exchange.
8. Iron (Fe)- Impact on Lithium Quality: Iron can lead to undesirable discoloration and negatively affect the performance of lithium compounds in batteries. It does not typically precipitate with lithium but can impact the overall quality.
- Removal Method: Oxidation to ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)₃ followed by sedimentation or filtration.
9. Manganese (Mn)- Impact on Lithium Quality: Manganese is often regarded as a contaminant in lithium production. High levels can affect battery performance and longevity, as it can interfere with the lithium-ion battery chemistry.
- Removal Method: Typically removed through selective precipitation or adsorption techniques.
10. Chloride (Cl)- Impact on Lithium Processing: While generally less harmful, high chloride levels can interfere with the crystallization of lithium salts. This can lead to lower yields and more complicated downstream processing.
- Removal Method: Can be precipitated as silver chloride (AgCl) if necessary or managed through ion exchange.
11. Sulfate (SO₄- Impact on Lithium Processing: Sulfate ions can form insoluble precipitates with barium and strontium, leading to scaling and equipment fouling. This complicates the recovery of lithium.
- Removal Method: Precipitated as barium sulfate (BaSO₄ or strontium sulfate (SrSO₄ by adding sulfuric acid.
12. Hydrogen Carbonate (HCO₃- Impact on Lithium Processing: Hydrogen carbonate can affect pH levels in the brine and complicate lithium precipitation. It can also alter the solubility of lithium salts during extraction.
- Removal Method: Typically managed by adjusting pH through the addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or through thermal decomposition.
Calculating reagents & order of filteringThere are many steps in the chemistry process but here are the main ones (amongst others) in my opinion:
Step 1 - remove the magnesium
Step 2 - remove the calcium
Step 3 - remove the sulfate
Step 4 - precipitating the lithium carbonate
Here is an example of what happens at step 1
Precipitate the Magnesium out by raising pH to 9-10, and adding Sodium Phosphate to make it a solid
Magnesium +add Sodium Phosphate = Magnesium Phosphate + Sodium
3Mg + 2NA3 PO4 = Mg3 PO4 + 6NA
molecular weight calculations
3(24.31g) + 2(163.94) = 262.86g + 6(22.99g)
total Magnesium molecular weight = 72.915g
= total Sodium Phosphate molecular weight = 327.88g
@ 2,228mg/L magnesium concentration x 576,687L of lithium brine required to make 1Tonne of LCE (minimum)
= 1,284kg of magnesium to filter out for 1 tonne of lithium carbonate (if you remove all).
you can calculate how much Sodium Phosphate reagent is required by multiplying the magnesium amount by 4.49, as Sodium Phosphate is 4.49 times heavier (327.88g molecular weight / 72.915g).
= 5,774kg of Sodium Phosphate required @ ~ $776 AUD per tone
= $4,539 AUD cost to remove the magnesium per tonne of lithium.that is a loooot of reagent!
Disclaimer: i am not qualified in chemistry and am purely playing around with numbers to demonstrate principles, which may vary from what Pablo does in reality.
Conclusion:Making Lithium carbonate is more complicated than you thought, and after learning it i have more sympathy for the issues that have occurred at the 2,000 plant. Realising how scientific and logical chemistry is, i am confident that with the help of the third party engineering consultants that the engineering plans for the 10,000 plant will perform MUCH better than the 2,000 plant.
Personally, i think that the share price situation is an absolute mess, paired with the care & maintenance situation at deficient 2,000 plant. but honestly, the price is so low at the moment at a lithium price level below break even for many lithium producers.
with the power of averaging down i.e.
$1,000 of shares at 30c = 3,333 shares 30c Break even
buy an additional $1,000 of shares at 4c = 25,000 shares. now 7c Break even
(do not mistake the small amount for naivity, its an example)
in
my situation it is in
my best interests to purchase more to reduce my break even to a level that in my opinion, the share price would reach extremely easily with just lithium sentiment returning. This is not to be mistaken as investment advice, im just saying it makes sense for
me and that's what im doing. Do i like the situation - no, but the power of averaging down coupled with lithium sentiment returning has great benefits.
i.e. whats less risky? 100k with a breakeven of 20c (500,000 shares), or $150k (1,93m shares when buying more at 3.5c) with a breakeven of 7.8c? (not my scenario, but an example)
The main risk to watch out for is the cash burn revealed come 31 October 2024, we have ~ $12m (including puna mining reserves). Jerko pulled off something miraculous with the raise at ~14.8c last time. Not sure what he'll do next time. There
will be a next time, and what he lands certainly affects things in terms of what he can raise.
Cheers.
edit: excuse the wink emoji cant get rid of it