Calix : CXL

The Calix calcination process is particularly well suited to fine spodumene feeds and provides excellent temperature control, allowing lower grade concentrates to be successfully treated, and can be renewably powered.

CXL사의 칼신네이션 정제 프로세스는 spod 중에서도 grade가 낮은 광석의 프로세스에 적합하고

온도 컨트롤이 용이하고 신재생에너지를 사용한다.

 

The scoping study will run until late 2021. If positive, Pilbara Minerals and Calix intend to form a Joint Venture to build a demonstration facility, starting with a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). Are the parties ahead or on Schedule wrt to the study, also likely ties in with recent appointment of Miriam Stanborough, to the Board as a non-executive Director, effective 2 October, 2021. Ms Stanborough is a chemical engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in the mineral processing industry across various commodities including copper, uranium, gold, silver, alumina and mineral sands Are we

 

The contemplated facility will be capable of up to several thousand tonnes of lithium salt annual production capacity, and the JV will also market and export the product from the facility, “on-shoring” significant value into Australia and avoiding the international shipment of thousands of tonnes of waste material (>90% of current spodumene exports) overseas.

The development could cornerstone a full battery production supply chain in Australia. To achieve this, Pilbara Minerals and Calix have agreed that once the demonstration facility has established the process and the market, the process will be marketed by the JV to Pilbara Minerals and other spodumene producers under licensing arrangements.

The proposed demonstration process will take fine, lower-grade spodumene concentrate and further process it on site utilizing renewable energy to create a low carbon, concentrated lithium salt, which can be further refined by others into lithium battery materials, or may potentially be used as direct feedstock for Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cathode manufacture(I wonder if they are talking with Li-S Energy Limited (Australia) to supply their commercialization of Lithium Sulphur batteries) – LFP batteries being a key subset of China’s lithium ion battery supply and the battery of choice for the Tesla Model 3 in China.

The project is in strong alignment with Government strategies to on-shore processing and manufacturing, more sustainable mining and processing, and critical minerals strategies for battery materials. Spodumene-derived lithium salts from Australian producers could hit 500kT by 2030, and with current lithium carbonate prices well in excess of US$10,000 per tonne (now >US26,000 per tonne) – this represents a considerable licensing opportunity for the JV and multi-billion-dollar export value opportunity for Australia.

Pilbara Minerals and Calix commenced work on the project after being brought together under the Future Battery Industries Co-operative Research Centre (“FBI-CRC”). The overall benefits of developing the process include:

• A higher recovery is obtained from the ore body = less mine wastage
• A higher value product is produced in Australia = more value kept on-shore
• Significant waste is not shipped overseas, by shipping a much higher lithium concentrate = far less transportation cost / wastage
• By using an electric calciner, the project can connect to renewable power = materially lower CO2 footprint in the envisaged novel lithium raw materials supply chain, becoming very important for Australian exports.

Ken Brinsden, Managing Director of Pilbara Minerals said there are several significant problems experienced with existing rotary kiln technology when treating fine concentrates. “Firstly, the conventional calcination of fine ore incurs increased losses via dust. Secondly, legacy calcination
techniques are very energy and carbon intensive, using fossil fuels in an environment of significant heat losses. And lastly, the lack of uniform temperature control can lead to either incomplete phase change or partial melting of the concentrate impurities, both of which hinder the recovery of lithium in subsequent extraction processes.

“Calix and Pilbara Minerals have conducted calcination trials of Pilgangoora spodumene in its electrically fired BATMn reactor, at Calix’s Bacchus Marsh facility, and it successfully demonstrated high conversion rates, zero dust emissions and avoided any partial melting concerns.

“With these promising results, we will now move to a scoping study phase to investigate installing a calciner and downstream demonstration processing plant at Pilgangoora to allow the processing of fine, low grade ore to produce lithium salt material for export overseas.”