United Lithium Corp. lithium hydroxide testing underway – results anticipated late February
by CM Staff
Testing included combinations of tests with different process design and operating parameters including temperature, pH, residence time, and different concentrations of lithium in the feed solutions.
VANCOUVER — United Lithium Corp. says that test work continues with lithium hydroxide and the company expects results by the end of February.
The company said that testing included combinations of tests with different process design and operating parameters including temperature, pH, residence time, and different concentrations of lithium in the feed solutions.
According to United Lithium, current tests are experimenting with a new apparatus constructed through a modular design. The apparatus is depicted below.
Dr. Abdul Halim, CTO of Process Research Ortech Inc., has led the test program. The company said Dr. Halim’s testing program has brought improvements in lithium mineral concentrate production from petalite and spodumene feed materials, high lithium recovery rates to produce high-purity lithium carbonate, and improvements to chemical roasting by adding microwave energy. Additionally, the company credits Dr. Halim’s testing for providing the company with several operational innovations and steps that may lead to process cost reduction and increased efficiency in lithium hydroxide production.
“It is a pleasure to work with United Lithium, and their cooperation and support with the innovative ideas and know-how have already led to many improvements in the lithium flow-sheet design. My plans for lithium hydroxide production could lead to a number of improved solutions versus the traditional processes. Our goal is to deliver improved and simpler processing steps and efficiencies, combined with reduced energy, reagents and water requirements,” said Dr. Abdul Halim, CTO of Process Research Ortech Inc. in a statement.
United Lithium says it is now in discussion with several technical experts regarding the production of value-added consumer/industrial products from the feldspar, quartz and mica by-products that may be recovered in the mining of lithium pegmatites. This may enable no or low waste mining operations as well as environmentally friendly processing alternatives for these value-added products.
The company says Dr. Halim created and supervised the implementation of bench scale test work used to create a flowsheet for value-added by-products from residue/tailings.
According to United Lithium, Dr. Halim has more than 15 years of experience in evaluating, developing and optimizing innovative and sustainable technologies for critical metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths, other base metals, PGMs, gold, and germanium from mined natural resources and recycled manufactured materials through bench, pilot, and demonstration plant operations. He has also authored more than 50 scientific and technical papers, holds five US patents, and has authored a number of book chapters in these areas.
