Lithium Australia recovers lithium from spent li-ion batteries

Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) has successfully refined lithium phosphate from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), and is proceeding to manufacture cathode powders.

The company, announced it was producing lithium-ferro-phosphate (LPT) coin cells to test the performance of its re-birthed cathodes, effectively proving its novel battery recycling technologies.

The Perth company has also recovered nickle and cobalt in a form suitable for commercial refining.

Managing director, Adrian Griffin said: “Few recycling operations around the world can recover lithium from LIBs.

“LIT’s process has the potential to not only improve the sustainability of LIBs, but also ease future supply constraints that may prove problematic to the industry.”

LIT’s part-owned Envirostream business supplied the mixed metal dusts recovered from spent batteries which were then taken to the ANSTO nuclear facility in Sydney for refining.

LIT utilised its proprietary LP precipitation and refining technology, which was developed in collaboration with ANSTO, to refine lithium phosphate.

The LP will be converted at LIT’s cathode powder pilot plant located in Brisbane.

Griffin said: “The company’s ability to employ LP in the direct of LEP is a significant technical achievement, one that reduces the number of process steps required to manufacture the cathode powder..

“That’s great news.”

Picture: Lithium Australia

Subscribe to our free @AuManufacturing newsletter here.