Earlier this week, Volt Lithium (VLT.v VLTLF) successfully produced 99.5% battery-grade lithium carbonate, a commercial and saleable lithium product, at its permanent demonstration plant in Calgary, Alberta
In processing oilfield brine from the Keg River formation at its Rainbow Lake Alberta asset, VLT was able to produce lithium carbonate with its proprietary and proven next-generation direct lithium extraction technology.
This represents a significant milestone for VLT as it marks the capacity to process oilfield brine and then refine its eluate into lithium carbonate that meets the specifications required to produce saleable battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide.
VLT President & CEO, Alex Wylie, commented:
“Bringing the full-cycle process in-house greatly reduces the cost to produce lithium carbonate, which is expected to enhance margins and position Volt as a low-cost operator,”
“We believe oil and gas producers across North America who are keen to monetize value from their produced water can benefit from Volt’s fully self-contained, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable solution to help meet the world’s growing need for lithium.”
Furthermore, Vice President R&D and Technical Services, John McEwen, PhD, stated:
“Having the Demonstration Plant offers a key differentiator for Volt relative to our peers, as it enables us to simulate field operations while testing brines from all over North America. Having this capability further allows the Company to prove the broad utility of our DLE technology as we efficiently advance towards a marketable product.”
The brine used for the production of lithium carbonated was sourced from Rainbow Lake and had an initial lithium concentration of 34mg/L. The process successfully removed 99% of the impurities followed by 98% lithium extraction, thus resulting in a high-quality eluate that was converted to 99.5% pure lithium carbonate.
In-House Lithium Carbonate Production
VLT'd proprietary DLE technology comprises a three-stage process to extract lithium from oilfield brine, using proven equipment and an established process to treat and purify the brine.
Through recent developments at the Demonstration Plant, VLT confirmed the ability to effectively remove up to 99% of contaminants in the preparation of clean brine for the DLE process.
VLT van then use its DLE tech to extract lithium from the brine, yielding on average up to 98% lithium extraction results to produce eluate which is then refined in-house to a lithium carbonate up to 99.5% purity, capable of meeting industry specifications for battery-grade lithium.
Posted on behalf of Volt Lithium Corp.