Lakkor Tso Produces Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide During Pilot-Scale Testing

Zijin News – On November 10, the Lakkor Tso lithium project produced its first battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) during pilot-scale testing. The project team successfully engineered and executed a process flow, paving the way for further verifying the feasibility of the lithium extraction process.

Lakkor Tso began pilot-scale testing on October 25 and produced its first industrial-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate on October 29. During the testing, the Lakkor Tso team worked together with Zijin’s in-house Mining and Metallurgical Engineering Institute to solve technical problems. 

Lakkor Tso’s first pilot-plant-produced battery-grade LHM products.

Given the alkaline, sodium sulfate-rich nature of the brine from the Lakkor Tso salar, the project team developed an extraction technique that combines titanium-based adsorption with membrane-based coupling. It is the first time that the process is used in lithium brine extraction in China, providing a success case that can be referred to by similar projects in the region.

The ongoing pilot-scale testing at Lakkor Tso is progressing as scheduled. The project team will continue optimizing indicators at each step of the extraction process and advance research for the project’s feasibility study, in a bid to use the techniques developed in production and help expedite project construction.

Translator: Han Liangyue    Reviser: Li Yuanxing   Editor-in-Chief: Wang Jie