LITHOS: cost-effective processing and refining of lithium into lithium hydroxide from strategic European multi-mineral lithium hard-rock projects

LITHOS project's focus:

EU domestic processing & refining of Li

by expanding and tailoring the existing flowsheet, which was developed for regular-grade spodumene ores, so that

  1. the cut-off grade for spodumene ores is reduced, resulting in larger Li reserves, while
  2. allowing the commercialisation of lower-grade pegmatite and RMG deposits.

 

LITHOS triggers innovations along the value chain – mineral processing, concentrate pre-treatment & hydrometallurgical refining – making it possible to deal with different levels and types of impurities in non-spodumene Li minerals (lepidolite & petalite).

LITHOS project's focus:

EU domestic processing & refining of Li

by expanding and tailoring the existing flowsheet, which was developed for regular-grade spodumene ores, so that

  1. the cut-off grade for spodumene ores is reduced, resulting in larger Li reserves, while
  2. allowing the commercialisation of lower-grade pegmatite and RMG deposits.

 

LITHOS triggers innovations along the value chain – mineral processing, concentrate pre-treatment & hydrometallurgical refining – making it possible to deal with different levels and types of impurities in non-spodumene Li minerals (lepidolite & petalite).

LITHOS' meta-objective:

to unleash Europe’s full Li-hard-rock ore potential so as to become self-sufficient by 2030–35 in terms of made-in-Europe LiOH·H2O.

Furthermore, LITHOS has a responsible mining and refining approach by giving specific attention to closing the water loops in the mineral processing and by reducing the overall CO2 emissions

0 Mt

Li2O

unleashed potential

0 %

less

water consumption

0 %

Less

CO2 emissions *

* compared to today’s benchmark (production of spodumene concentrate in Australia & refining in China).

LITHOS Consortium

VTT

Coordinator

KU Leuven

Beneficiary

BRGM

Beneficiary

Metso:Outotec

Beneficiary

Keliber

Beneficiry

TUC

Beneficiary

Savannah

Beneficiary

Imerys

Beneficiary

Metso:Outotec

Associated Partner

News

Documentary:

Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle

The documentary “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle” investigates the challenges faced by Europe as it attempts to set up its own, fully integrated, mine-to-EV value chain. 

The film acts as a wake-up call to avoid that Europe’s decarbonisation strategy leads to a nightmarish de-industrialisation. Instead, the documentary shows that Europe’s transition to climate neutrality can go hand in hand with a cleantech-based re-industrialisation. Made-in-Europe.