Imagine trying to get a specific flavor of salt out of a rock that is mostly grit and other minerals. Usually, you only do this if the rock is very rich in salt, otherwise it's too expensive. This project creates a better 'recipe' to extract high-quality lithium from lower-quality rocks, using far less water and creating much less pollution.
European lithium production is currently limited by high cut-off grades and a reliance on Asian refining, making many domestic low-grade deposits economically unviable.
A tailored mineral processing and hydrometallurgical flowsheet for battery-grade LiOH·H2O production, including digital twins and thermodynamic models for impurity management.
If you are a mining operator dealing with low-grade pegmatite or RMG deposits that were previously too expensive to mine — this project developed a tailored processing flowsheet that reduces the cut-off grade, making more of your reserves commercially viable.
If you are a refinery dealing with impurities in non-spodumene minerals like lepidolite and petalite — this project developed an innovative refining process that handles these impurities while reducing CO2 emissions by 50% compared to the Australia-China benchmark.
If you are a battery producer dealing with supply chain risks and dependence on Asian imports — this project developed a domestic European production route for battery-grade LiOH·H2O to help meet the 40% domestic processing benchmark.
The project focuses on cost-effective processing by reducing the cut-off grade for spodumene ores, which allows companies to commercialize lower-grade deposits that were previously uneconomical.
Based on available project data, the project has performed first pilots with spodumene ore from Savannah and produced petalite concentrates on a small scale.
Based on available project data, the project expands and tailors the existing Keliber & Metso flowsheet, suggesting a collaborative industrial IP base involving Metso and other partners.
LITHOS directly supports the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) benchmarks, specifically the 10% domestic extraction and 40% domestic processing targets.
The project runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-06-30, with a meta-objective of achieving European self-sufficiency in LiOH·H2O by 2030–35.
The consortium is highly industry-driven, with a 50% industry ratio (5 industrial partners out of 10). This strong commercial presence, combined with the coordination by VTT (a leading research center) and partners across 5 EU countries, indicates a high probability of technology transfer and direct application in the three identified strategic mining projects in Finland, Portugal, and France.
Contact VTT (Finland) regarding the LITHOS flowsheet and Metso process integration.
Contact us to connect with the LITHOS consortium for licensing the low-grade lithium processing flowsheet.
