Infinity Lithium (ASX:INF) has successfully produced battery-grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate from metallurgical test work at its San José Lithium Project in Spain.
The bench-scale result is described by the company at a ‘significant milestone’ in the project, and comes from test work under a project agreement with EIT InnoEnergy.
Importantly, specifications from this latest round of test work can now be used to advance discussions with a range of key battery manufacturers including LG Energy Solutions, with whom the company signed a lithium hydroxide offtake MOU in June.
The importance of being able to produce both battery-grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate has been highlighted from discussions with European OEMs and strategic partners, who underlined the importance of optionality to allow for evolving market demand as cathode technologies advance.
Infinity reports that work from a pilot-scale program, which is designed to test scalability of bench-scale processes, has been completed with 400kg of flotation concentrate produced for further test work, including sulphation roasting. This process has commenced, and is scheduled to run through until early October 2021, leading into a feasibility study for San José.
