Rio processing dirt pile for lithium

Rio Tinto Group is starting pilot production of lithium in California and will consider an expansion to become the top domestic supplier in the US as the world’s biggest miners look to boost their exposure to the electric-vehicle battery revolution.

Rio Tinto Group is starting pilot production of lithium in California and will consider an expansion to become the top domestic supplier in the US as the world’s biggest miners look to boost their exposure to the electricvehicle (EV) battery revolution.

Work to reprocess waste piles from a 90-year-old mining site in Boron has successfully produced lithium carbonate — needed in rechargeable batteries for EVs and consumer technology — and efforts are now focused on improving quality and volumes, Rio said on Tuesday.

Rio is the first top diversified miner to add lithium output to its portfolio, ahead of a looming decision on development of its mine project in Serbia. Analysts estimate this could account for 5% of world demand, set to advance about eightfold to 2030 as EV adoption increases and the battery sector expands.

“If the trials continue to prove successful, this has the potential to become America’s largest domestic producer of batterygrade lithium — all without the need for further mining,” Bold Baatar, CEO of Rio’s energy and minerals division, said in the statement.

The only supplier in the US is Albemarle’s Silver Peak operation in Nevada, according to the US Geological Survey.

Rio, the world’s secondlargest miner, has held discussions on the EV sector with key companies in the supply chain and executives have visited China’s battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), and EV maker Tesla, according to people familiar with the producer’s plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity as details of the talks are private. CATL declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A pilot plant being assembled at Boron — about 160km northeast of Los Angeles — under a $10m first phase will produce about 10 tons a year of lithium carbonate equivalent through the chemical processing of material from the pile of decadesold mining waste.

Boron is part of a unit in California’s Death Valley whose products range from borates, materials used in laundry soap and components for nuclear reactors, since 1872. At least 80 minerals are found in material from the site, and staff were combing the waste for gold and other elements when they discovered lithium, according to Rio Tinto.

Rio will next consider a $50m investment to build an industrial-scale lithium plant with capacity for 5,000 tons a year that could begin making sales on the battery market.

That volume will be sufficient for batteries needed in about 15,000 Tesla Model S cars, the company said.

While Rio’s competitors are also gearing up for the rising battery demand being forecast, their focus is on other commodities. Glencore is aiming to add copper, nickel and cobalt output, while BHP is developing specialist nickel and battery cathode products and sees lithium as a less attractive option, CFO Peter Beaven said in May.

Lithium prices have sunk since mid-2018, ending a threeyear surge, as new operations have added supply and amid some signs of demand weakness. There is probably enough capacity at present to supply the global market until the mid2020s, according to BloombergNEF.

IF TRIALS CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFUL, THIS HAS POTENTIAL TO BE THE LARGEST US PRODUCER OF BATTERY-GRADE LITHIUM

Rio previously weighed an offer for a stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, one of the world’s top lithium producers, before deciding in 2018 not to proceed.

Separately, Rio has signed an agreement to enter the rareearths supply chain with the sale of monazite, a raw material that contains the critical elements, the company said. The material is part of the waste stream at Rio’s mineral sands operation in Madagascar.

US President Donald Trump has flagged concerns over the global supply of rare-earths and a suite of other so-called critical minerals amid worries that China, the dominant supplier of many of the materials, could restrict exports.

Rio is also using a $3m defence logistics agency grant to boost recovery of rhenium, needed for jet-fighter engines, at a copper operation in Utah. It is also working on a project to boost US supply of indium, used in touch screens and solar panels.