Lepidico: Piloting Its Way Through
Edison | Oct 10, 2018 02:47AM ET
Although an abundant lithium-bearing mineral, lepidolite has hitherto been overlooked as there has been no commercial process by which to process it economically (unlike spodumene). Central to Lepidico Ltd (AX:LPD) is its disruptive (patent pending) L-Max metallurgical technology that recovers lithium from micas (eg lepidolite), and therefore holds out the prospect of creating a new source of lithium supply. Lepidico has completed mini-plant trials on its L-Max process at a processing rate of 1kg/hour and a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the development of a 3.6t/hour Phase 1 demonstration plant. It is developing a 15kg/hour pilot plant in part to mitigate scale-up risk, while simultaneously completing a full FS on a 7t/hour plant ahead of a final investment decision in mid-2019.
Scaling up by degrees
L-Max uses readily available mainstream chemicals and a PFS completed by Minmet Services in 2017 estimated C1 cash costs of production of lithium carbonate as close to zero (net of by-products) using this method. To date, Lepidico has conducted large-scale laboratory tests that have shown the L-Max technology to operate continuously and stably over a long period of time. The PFS assumed a small-scale, commercial L-Max plant processing a lithium mica concentrate at a rate of 3.6 tonnes per hour (tph) to produce c 3,000tpa of battery-grade lithium carbonate and a suite of commercially important by-products. Having received the results of the PFS for the Phase 1 L-Max Plant, Lepidico’s strategic imperative is now the development of a 15kg/hour pilot plant to reduce scale-up risk and provide a demonstration facility for prospective financiers, while simultaneously completing a full FS on a 7t/hour Phase 1 plant before proceeding to full commercial scale (c 4–5x the size).
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