Chile is the world’s second-largest lithium producer after Australia, thanks to production from SQM and rival Albemarle, which plans to use its own DLE in the country.
Bolick’s mandate sparked a frenzy among DLE companies to expand into Chile, home to the world’s largest lithium reserves. But so far, DLE technology has never worked at a commercial scale without a reservoir.
Santiago-based SQM studied more than 70 DLE technologies before selecting 12 for pilot testing, with testing of two of them currently underway, said Carlos Diaz, head of SQM’s lithium division. Reuters On the sidelines of the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas.
Given Atacama’s sheer size and chemical complexity, SQM is likely to select multiple DLE companies as it works to introduce technology in stages and increase annual lithium production from an estimated 200,000 tonnes this year to 280,000-300,000 tonnes by 2060, he said.
“We want to have multiple (DLE) solutions,” says Dias, an engineer by training who joined SQM in 1996. “It’s difficult to choose one solution that’s compatible with all kinds of chemicals that may be in different types of brine.”
Chile’s Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, said in April that there were no plans to mandate the use of any particular type of DLE technology in the country.
Earlier this year, SQM tested DLE technology from Adionics, a French company in which it has an investment.
Diaz said some key considerations for SQM include that DLE uses more electricity than evaporation ponds, and that some versions use large amounts of fresh water. The company is also concerned about how reinjecting the brine after lithium separation could affect aquifers, he said.
“We need to be very careful about how we impact the environmental balance of the aquifer,” he added.
Once selected, SQM will have to apply for an environmental permit from Chilean regulators, Diaz said, a process that could take up to three years.
Meanwhile, SQM has international investments in hard-rock lithium mining, including with Azur Minerals in Australia, which Dias said is part of an effort aimed at broadening the company’s geographic focus.
“We have been looking at different alternatives outside Chile to diversify,” Diaz said. “We need to diversify and look for new sources to continue to increase lithium production in response to growing demand.”
(Writing by Ernest Shader; Edited by Jamie Freed)
