Alternative battery maker Lithium Australia NL has successfully refined lithium phosphate powders for the production of lithium-ion batteries generated directly from mine waste.

The company first reported production of lithium-ion batteries using mine waste in November of last year, demonstrating the potential of this method even while manufacturing the batteries using unrefined lithium phosphate.

Now, Lithium Australia said it has refined the lithium phosphate in order to reduce the concentrations of impurities such as potassium, sodium and sulfur to improve battery performance.

Lithium Australia’s SiLeach process in combination with VSPC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Australia) cathode production reduces the number of processing steps required to generate battery precursors and removes the requirement for the production of high-purity lithium hydroxide or carbonate — which is one of the most technically challenging steps in the battery manufacturing process.

Once refined, the lithium phosphate is converted into cathode material and lithium-ion battery cells for testing at the VSPC facility in Brisbane, Australia. The company plans to reveal the results of the testing at a later date.

The goal is to create a method to manufacture lithium-ion batteries that both reduces the energy footprint and the cost of production of battery components.

“Process efficiency is the key to cost reduction in the battery industry,” said Adrian Griffin, managing director at Lithium Australia. “We have hit the nail on the head by using waste material as feed, and by reducing the number of processing steps required to produce high-quality battery components.”

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