() () (FRA: 3 MW) is driven by the growing demand for lithium manganese ferrophosphate (LMFP) cathodic power, supplied by battery and electric vehicle manufacturers around the world, including BYD, Volkswagen and Tesla .

LIT says these companies are switching to using lithium ferrophosphate (LFP) cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries because not only are LFPs and LMFPs cheaper, but they’re also safer than those containing nickel. and cobalt – LMFPs having up to 25% improvement in energy density over LFP.

Recently, Lithium Australia sent its first batch, via the subsidiary of VSPC Ltd, of LMFP to potential customers after meeting industry performance and physical property specifications.

Talk to Proactive, Adrian Griffin, Managing Director of Lithium Australia, said: “LMFP is a derivative of LFP… we have a lot of expertise in the development of these materials.

“LMFP is a high performance cathode powder – the beauty of it is that it has the same chemical structure as LFP.

“We took this material after testing it for a while and now we have made commercial batches and shipped them to China and Japan.

“We have received inquiries from just about every other battery jurisdiction around the world.”

Griffin said the company has collapsed and focused on perfecting the technique of development and manufacturing over the past six months.

“We think we got it and we think we got it a lot better than the major battery producers.

“A lot of people have tried their luck and failed – but I think we are now in a position where we can actually produce this material as a high performance material with consistent quality. “

Robust project economics

In April, LIT’s pre-feasibility study (PFS) confirmed the economic robustness of the project for manufacturing VSPC’s LFP cathode powder, with production up to 10,000 tonnes per year over a three-year period. , reaching nominal capacity in 2026..

The case for locating the plant in India turns out to be the best financial result with a net present value (NPV) of US $ 253 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 33%.

This PFS is based on proprietary VSPC process technology that offers competitive or even better performance compared to other advanced LFP material manufacturing processes, including the more expensive sol-gel processes used in China and Vietnam.

Although the PFS has provided a detailed assessment of the three possible jurisdictions, other factors, such as strategic partnerships with upstream mining, refining and chemicals producers, may provide further benefits for the marketing of cathode powders. VSPC.

Likewise, downstream partnerships (cathode and battery manufacturing) may bring additional financial benefits in other jurisdictions, and to this end, the company is evaluating specific opportunities in Australia, South Korea, Europe and the United States. United States.

Envirostream 2021 Field Trials

Lithium Australia’s recycling division, Envirostream Australia Pty Ltd, extended its field testing program in June following positive results from the 2020 field testing.

LIT will work with Summit Fertilizers, a leading fertilizer supplier to evaluate Envirostream products.

The program has been extended to four sites in South Australia (three Summit sites and one dedicated Envirostream site) and one dedicated Envirostream site in South Australia, allowing performance evaluations of recycled battery material on different types of battery. large area soils.

Envirostream’s micronutrients will again be agglomerated with a monoammonium phosphate (MAP) fertilizer.

This year, the number of treatments at the two Envirostream trial sites increased from five to nine.

It is hoped that there will be a similar or better manganese uptake response than that noted in the 2020 trial.

JV Soluna Australia

Soluna Australia Pty Ltd, a joint venture between Lithium Australia and 50% DLG Energy (Shanghai) Co Ltd received in April the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approval for pre-assembled HV pack 10K battery systems for residential applications .

CEC, Australia’s leading body for the clean energy industry, requires that all clean energy products sold in Australia, including those marketed by Soluna Au, meet the highest national and international standards.

CEC accreditation assures national power grid operators that products can be safely installed across the country.

Soluna also finalized a national distribution agreement with Legend Corporate Services Ltd.

Charger investment

Additionally, the company advanced its joint venture with () listing today and exercised its option to acquire a 70% stake in three of LIT’s battery metals assets.

Charger, which ended its first day after trading at 21.5 cents per share, will oversee exploration for the Coates, Bynoe and Lake Johnston projects.

However, Lithium Australia still has exposure to battery materials projects as it retains a free 30% stake in exploration assets and remains the major shareholder of Charger Metals.

To complete the acquisition, Charger made a cash payment of AU $ 100,000 and 9.6 million Charger shares to Lithium Australia, valued at AU $ 1.92 million.

During the AU $ 6 million oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO), LIT shareholders were given priority access to the offer, being able to subscribe for AU $ 500,000 of Charger shares at 20 cents apiece.

Business

The Perth-based lithium mining developer has cash reserves of more than A $ 11 million as of June 31, 2021.

During the March quarter, its share price traded at a two-year high with high trading volumes.

In February, Mike Vaisey, Head of Battery Materials at Lithium Australia, spoke with Proactive about the resurgence of the LFP and where he sees the demand coming from outside of China.

He said the demand can be attributed to several angles, one being the changes in Chinese government policy regarding the development of cathode materials and the other being the increase in adoption by major vehicle manufacturers. electrics from the LFP for passenger vehicle models.