Lithium Sustainability Information

Lithium Sustainability Information July 2020 Lithium – Sustainability Information 2 AT A GLANCE Mining PRODUCTION FROM BRINE PRODUCTION FROM HARD ROCK Critical: • Brine production • Mining, crushing and land use (2018 Li content: grinding Chile 18,000 t / 20 %, (2018 Li content Argentina 6,400 t / 7 %) Australia 58,800 t / 63 %) ess roc ing P • Concentration and • Li mineral concentration separation of dissolved by means of gravity separation, Critical: salts by means of evaporation flotation, magnetic separation water use of the brine • Final product: e.g. spodumene • Final product: Li-rich concentrate (approx. 6% Li2O) brines (6 % Li) nversio Co n • Precipitation of undesirable • Calcination and leaching elements such as Mg, Ca of the concentrate Critical: • Precipitation of lithium • Precipitation of undesirable elements energy/ CO 2 carbonate such as Mg, Ca • Precipitation of lithium carbonate Fig. 1: Mining, processing and conversion (to lithium carbonate), shown for lithium produced from brines and hard rock, as well as critical points from a sustainability perspective. • As the central element of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), lithium is indispensable for electromobility and mobile devices, and demand is expected to rise. • The greatest added value lies in the further processing of the lithium carbonate and other raw materials in the batteries. • Treatment and processing steps in production and processing into lithium carbonate differ for extraction from salars (primarily Chile and Argentina) and from hard rock (primarily Australia). • The majority (88 % of global production [1]) is currently produced in countries that enjoy comparatively good mining sector regulation. • In the case of production from salars, water consumption in particular is a point for discussion, because around 200–1,000 m³ of brine must be pumped to produce 1 t of lithium carbonate. • At the moment, recycling can only make a comparatively small contribution to meeting demand, and probably also in the mid-term future. CONTENT 1. Lithium´s relevance p. 3 2. From deposit to commodity p. 3 3. Recycling p. 7 4. Sustainability aspects of lithium mining and production p. 8 Lithium – Sustainability Information 3 1 LITHIUM‘S RELEVANCE makes recycling more difficult. Of all metals, lithium has the highest electrochemical potential (-3.05 V) AT A GLANCE Until the 1990s lithium was traditionally used in the and the highest weight-specific capacity (3860 Ah/kg). glass and ceramics industry, and in the production of At approx. 250 Wh/kg, the energy density of LIBs lubricants. The mineral concentrates used generally is highest, the life cycle the longest, the temperature comprise the minerals spodumene or petalite. range the widest and the self-discharge rate of 1 – 2 % per year the lowest [5] compared to other battery types. In the glass and ceramics industry, lithium is used to lower the melting point. In addition, the viscosity is reduced, which increases the processability of the glass melts. Moreover, as an admixture, lithium increases 2 FROM DEPOSIT TO the hardness and strength of glasses exposed to high COMMODITY temperature fluctuations and which must be protected from early breakage, e.g. on hobs. Two production processes are differentiated in the production of lithium(carbonate) (Fig. 1): Lithium is also used as an alloying metal, although the percentages are relatively small. In the alloy, it has 1.) Mining of hard rock and production of concentrates an especially positive effect on weight and strength. 2.) Production from lithium-containing brines (salars) Currently, the main application of lithium is in lithium- ion batteries (LIBs), with a rapidly increasing trend. It Lithium carbonate is usually obtained from the lithium- is therefore currently indispensable for achieving the containing brines (salars) or concentrates (pegmatites) goals of the energy revolution. The DERA study [2] (sometimes also directly lithium hydroxide) and is then indicates that the lithium demand for battery production further processed. and other applications will be approximately 80,000 t/a in 2025, assuming an average increase in demand Until a few years ago, Chile dominated the lithium (Fig. 2). The most important growth driver in the use market with an average of 42 % of world production of LIBs is electromobility, which has already shown a (2000 – 2016). During this period, production increased significant increase between 2015 and 2019 (Fig. 3). from 6,500 t to 14,500 t of lithium (Li content). In the Today, it can already be seen that the 2017 forecasts same period, Australia increased production from for 2025 will be exceeded. almost 2,000 t to 16,000 t. Due to extraordinarily strong investments in the Australian sector, triggered by Due to its specific properties, lithium represents increasing demand and rising prices, production grew an indispensable component of current battery to almost 60,000 t lithium in 2017 and 2018. As a result, technologies. It is used in the electrolyte, as well as in the Chilean share of world production fell to 20 %, while the anode and the cathode, of rechargeable batteries. that of Australia rose to 63 % (Fig. 4). However, its dispersed distribution within the battery 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 Forecast demand in t Li content 0 Roskill Stormcrow Deutsche Signum Macquarie Dakota DERA Bank Box Minerals Fig. 2: Global lithium demand forecast for 2025. The forecasts of the various companies and organisations were made in 2017 [2]. Lithium – Sustainability Information 4 Air treatment Air treatment 4 % 1 % Cast metal Cast metal 6 % 3 % Polymers Polymers 5 % 3 % Other Ohter 5 % 12 % Lubricants Lubricants 5 % 8 % Share of 2015 Share of 2019 total production total production Ceramics 32,000 t. Li content 95,000* t Li 18 % Ceramics 31 % Rechargeable batteries Rechargeable 37 % batteries 65 % Fig. 3: Percentage of rechargeable batteries in total use of lithium in 2015 and 2019 [3,4]. Portugal 760 t Li. USA China 900 t Li 7.100 t Li Chile 18.000 t Li Worldwide Governance Zimbabwe Indicators 2018 1.500 t Li Source: World Bank Argentina Australia 1.5 bis 2.5 6.400 t Li 58.800* t Li 0.5 bis 1.5 –0.5 bis 0.5 Lithium production –1.5 bis –0.5 from hard rock from Salars from salars and rock –2.5 bis –1.5 (61,000 t content) (25,300 t content) (7,100 t content) FIg. 4: Main producing countries for lithium from hard rock and salars in 2018, and governance [6] in the producing countries. The largest lithium reserves can be found in salars in generally using open-cast mining methods. Lithium the so-called lithium triangle between southern Bolivia, pegmatites occur worldwide, however grades and northern Chile and north-west Argentina. tonnage in Australia are greater than in most other regions of the world. Other important deposits exist Australia currently has the world‘s largest production in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, capacity. Here pegmatites, i.e. hard rocks, are mined, Lithium – Sustainability Information 5 Spodumene 1,075 – 1,150 °C cooling grinding concentrate calcinating Sulphuric Gas Water & limestone acid scrubbing Sodium carbonate & quicklime leaching mixing Solution mixing thickening/ filtration Residue on tailings 90 – 100 °C evaporation Sulphuric acid heating thickening/ neutralising filtering, washing, filtration drying Lithium carbonate Residue to tailings Sodium sulphate Fig. 5: Schematic of the processing of a spodumene concentrate to lithium carbonate using the acid-roast process [7]. Portugal, China and Brazil, among others. Important In order to produce lithium carbonate from the by-products of lithium mining are tantalum and tin. concentrate, the lithium must be leached out of the minerals. This is primarily achieved using the acid Pegmatites are formed from the residual melts of roast process (Fig. 5). The concentrate (in this case granitic intrusions. They are extremely coarse-grained spodumene) is roasted at around 1,100 °C to convert rocks which, in addition to quartz and feldspars, can the minerals into a form that is soluble in sulphuric contain a number of elements that do not fit into the acid. By adding calcium carbonate first and then crystal lattice of most minerals. Among these elements soda, undesirable elements such as iron, manganese, is lithium, which is incorporated into various minerals aluminium and calcium are removed and at the end in certain pegmatites. The most economically important lithium carbonate (99.3 % purity; technical grade) is minerals are spodumene, petalite and lepidolite. precipitated. Ion exchangers are employed to further increase the purity (to 99.5 % and higher; chemical- The pegmatite ore is extracted in the traditional way of and battery grade) [7]. blasting and loading and is then transported from the pit to the processing facility. Here, the rock is crushed In order to allow the lithium to be utilised in battery and ground. In order to obtain a saleable product with production and to manufacture battery cells, the lithium appropriate lithium content and low levels of impurities, carbonate is converted into lithium hydroxide in yet enrichment processes that concentrate the lithium must another process. be employed. Frequently used concentration processes include density sorting, flotation and magnetic When producing lithium carbonate from salars, a separation. The mineral concentrate obtained is divided brine with a salt content of around 300 g/l is pumped into different qualities depending on purity, with the first [7]. This salt content is more than eight times „battery grade“ category indicating the highest purity. greater than that of seawater (35 g/l). Predominant The „technical grade“ category may contain a certain elements dissolved in the brines are chloride, as well degree of deleterious elements. The „battery grade“ as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, lithium quality is primarily used for further processing into LIBs, and other [8, 9]. The lithium content of the brine varies while the „technical grade“ quality is mainly utilised in between 10 mg per kg and 2,000 mg per kg [10].

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