Another Australian mining company interested in Portuguese lithium. Leaders of the multinational Lepidico, based in Perth, on the west coast of Australia, were in Lisbon this week, where they met with government officials, mayors and managers of Felmica, one of the leading operators in the lithium area in Portugal.Expresso noted that the company has links with the fund manager Oxy Capital, which now holds the majority of the capital of the Mota Mineral group (owner of Felmica and the respective mining concessions). The meeting will have served to clarify how far the collaboration between Lepidico and Felmica can go, in the area of lithium exploration, being, for now, to exclude a sale of the Portuguese company to the Australian mining multinational.Some sources in the sector have told Expresso that Oxy Capital has even admitted the separate sale of several companies of that group. This is something that Oxy's source says is unfounded.Lepidico's interest in lithium mining in Portugal is certain, after its Australian competitors Dakota Minerals and Slipstream.The reason is very simple: global demand for that raw material continues to increase year on year and the price per ton (of lithium carbonate) rose from 5000 dollars at the beginning of 2016 to 15 thousand dollars in the first months of 2018.5th world producerSome international studies by banks, financial consultants and even oil companies point to a real 'boom' in demand for electric cars in the next decade, from the current 2 million cars to 20 million by 2030. This may require six times more lithium carbonate than is currently used in the world market.Now, as the batteries of electric cars are precisely made from lithium and, on the other hand, as Portugal is the 5th largest world producer of that raw material (according to the most recent report by the US Geological Department), one can easily see - according to several analysts contacted by Expresso - the appetite of several multinational mining companies for Portugal.It should be remembered, however, that the lithium exploited in the Seixo Amarelo (Gonçalo - Guarda) mine is not sent directly to the automotive industry. In fact, it is almost entirely sent to the ceramic industry, in the form of lithium concentrate, where it is used as a flux. It is mixed with the basic raw materials used to manufacture the ceramics so that the ideal melting point for their processing can be reached more quickly. This means energy savings and, consequently, considerable reductions in pollutant emissions into the atmosphere.The chemical levels of lithium in the ore extracted in Portugal rarely exceed the 1% threshold (one kilogram of lithium in every 100 kilograms of lithium 'debris' collected). This is followed by a chemical process of enrichment of the lithium concentrate in the order of 4 to 10 times the initial content, depending on whether it is made up of richer or poorer ores respectively.The metallurgical process is designed to destroy the crystalline structure of lithium-bearing minerals in order to release this metal from bonds with other elements. A complex operation that requires processing temperatures above 800°C. Compounds are then obtained with a so-called 'technical content' below 99%, or with a 'battery content' in the order of 99.5%, or even a 'high purity' above 99.9%. But this is not yet done in Portugal.There are those who admit, however, that the Australians of Lepidico may want to invest in this industrial phase of the lithium cycle.Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
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