Standard Lithium produces high-purity lithium carbonate, shares up

Standard Lithium (TSXV: SLL) has completed the conversion of its Arkansas-produced lithium chloride (LiCl) into 99.985% pure lithium carbonate using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) technology, the lithium development company announced Monday.

The work was completed by Veolia Water Technologies at their facility in Plainfield, Illinois, and demonstrates that the lithium chloride intermediate product produced by Standard Lithium’s industrial-scale LiSTR direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant in Arkansas can be converted into better than battery-quality lithium carbonate using established OEM carbonation technology.

As part of a process of de-risking its Arkansas lithium project, Standard Lithium opted to evaluate two different processes to convert the LiCl solution made by the Arkansas DLE plant into a battery-quality material.

The first was using the company’s own patent-pending SiFT technology. The second, as reported in Monday’s release, was via conventional technology, widely used within the industry and performed by Veolia. Concentrated lithium chloride solution produced by Standard Lithium was sent to Veolia and then converted to lithium carbonate using a conventional flowsheet.

This dual-track lithium carbonate conversion program has successfully demonstrated two separate crystallization flowsheets that can take lithium chloride produced from the Smackover Formation brine and convert it into high-purity, battery-quality lithium carbonate.

As the company continues to move towards commercialization, demonstration of alternative technologies in key areas of the flowsheet allows it to reduce project execution risk and offers greater flexibility regarding the final flowsheet that will be deployed at a commercial scale, Standard Lithium said.

As it continues to innovate and optimize its flowsheet, with a view to expanding product offerings from the Smackover resource, Standard Lithium has also begun work to assess the feasibility of directly converting lithium chloride produced by the LiSTR DLE plant in Arkansas into battery-quality lithium hydroxide. 

“We’ve now demonstrated that we can convert to battery-quality lithium carbonate using the company’s SiFT technology; that we can get to the same end-product using established technology developed and sold by global OEMs; and now we’re looking to add battery-quality lithium hydroxide to the product offering,” Dr. Andy Robinson, Standard Lithium COO, said in the news release.

Shares of Standard Lithium surged 5.3% by midday Monday, near a two-week high. The company’s market capitalization is at C$466.7 million.