www.congreso.expomin.cl

INNOVACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO MINEROINNOVATION FOR MINING DEVELOPMENT

23 – 27 ABRIL/APRIL 2018

Santiago, Chile

ORGANIZA Y PRODUCEORGANIZED AND PRODUCED BY

JUEVES 26 DE ABRIL DE 2017

1° SEMINARIO LITIO: REGULACIÓN, MERCADO Y TECNOLOGÍA

CYANEX®936/TAT-Li ProcessA NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR LITHIUM EXTRACTION

Alejandro Quilodrán Fritz

Applications Engineer

Solvay -Chile

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CONTENTS:

1. Solvay introduction

2. Li Extraction Conventional Process

3. CYANEX®936 New Reagent for Li Solvent Extraction

4. TAT-Tenova Technology for Li Recovery

5. TAT flowsheet

6. Advantages of the TAT Process

7. Final Comments

JUEVES 26 DE ABRIL DE 2017

1° SEMINARIO LITIO: REGULACIÓN, MERCADO Y TECNOLOGÍA

CYANEX®936/TAT-Li Process- A New Technology for Lithium Extraction

Solvay at a glance

WE ARE ANADVANCED MATERIALS AND SPECIALTY CHEMICALS COMPANY

1. 2017 underlying results

2. MTAR: Medical Treatment Accident Rate

Lithium Conventional Process

A proven process, with proven deficiencies:

• Weather / Geography dependent

• High Li losses: ~ 50% of Li in feed lost along process

• Multiple evaporation/precipitation stages are required

• Multiple liquid/solid separation stages are required.

• Enormous amounts of water lost in arid areas

• Long residence time ( ̴18 months)

Li salar

wells

Evaporation ponds

KCl

Potash plant

Carbonate plant

Na2CO3

Li2CO3

Brine[Li]~0.2 to 2 g/L

Boron removal (SX)

HCl

High boron

solution

Organic phaseConcentrate Brine[Li]~ 10 to 60 g/L

MgCO3

Mg(OH)2

CaCO3

Purification Carbonation

NaOH H2O

Spent solution(m

other liquor)[Li]~2 g/L

8 km

7 km

10 km

7 km

7 km

6 km

80 ktpy LCE capacity 170 km2

Even if money, space and water were no issue…

… How to supply short-term Li demand with 18-mo residence times?

Sources: Orocobre, Roskill, Benchmark Minerals IntelligenceBattery assumptions: 0.8kg LCE per kWhSpodumene assets include mineral lossesExisting capacity (brine + rock)

Additional brine capacity (S. America)Additional rock capacityAdditional brine capacity (China)

Li demand – pessimistic (2.5% EV penetration)

Li demand – current (3.5% EV penetration)

Li demand – optimistic (4.5% EV penetration

DEMAND/SUPPLY FORECASTS

Is there a different process ?

SALARHYDROMET

PLANT

Li2CO3

Li LiLi

Li

Li

Li

Li

Li LiLi

Li

Li

PONDSLiLiLi

Li

Time, CAPEX

Water

The Li Magnet: CYANEX® 936 Extractant

SOLVAY has developed CYANEX®936, a phosphorus-based extractant specifically formulated

for lithium (Li). It selectively forms a complex with Li at any Li concentration.

Li+ (aq) + RH (org) ↔ RLi (org) + H+

(aq)

• Reagent works by chelation, exchanging protons (H+) formetal (Li+), similarly to copper reagents

• Applicable to any lithium feed stream exempt of divalentions ( Mg2+ and Ca2+ must be pre-removed via filtration orprecipitation)

• Requires neutralization

CYANEX® 936 is the approved and recommended reagent for Tenova Advanced Technologies’ Lithium Recovery Process

Extraction

Organic

impurities

Aqueous Li

Li

Stripping

LiLi

Li

Li

Li

Li

Li

Li

Li

Li

K K

KNa

Na

Na

CYANEX®936 key characteristics

• CYANEX® 936 has high Li extraction capacity, which means it enables toextract Li completely from a typical stream in only a few theoretical stages

• CYANEX® 936 has high selectivity for Li over Na, K or B

Tenova Advanced Technologies (TAT) Lithium Process

The TAT recovery technology consists of 3 distinct processes sections:

LiP™ – Physical removal of alkali earth elements, using membranes

LiSX™ - Recovery of lithium into solution utilizing solvent extraction process

LiEL™ - conversion of the Li₂SO₄ solution into LiOH solution, using electrolysis followed by downstream crystallization (only for LiOH·H₂Oroute)

A comprehensive processFrom feed solution through to end-product

With the versatility to produce various salts directly

Benefits of TAT Li Recovery Process w/ CYANEX® 936

• Residence time from brine to end-product in hours (not months)

• Li-depleted brine can be re-injected into the salar

• Weather independent

• Suitable even for dilute Li feed solution <100 ppm

• Ability to produce multiple salts directly as a final product: Li2CO3, LiCl, LiOH

• Lithium recovery in LiSX™ > 99% ; Overall Lithium recovery 80%-95%

• Lithium purity obtained > 99.9%

• Boron SX plant not required

• Complex solid/liquid separation stages are not required

• Precipitation/Evaporation stages not required

7 km

10km

7km

8 km

7 km

6 km

Traditional Li Process

80,000 TPA LCE

Total plant area about 170 km2

Tenova Lithium Plant

Estimated Total plant area for production of 80,000 TPA LCE about 0.17 km2 (similar to one big pond)

TAT Li process vs. Conventional pond process

Features

20,000 tpa LCE

TAT Lithium

Recovery Process

Conventional Pond

Process

Total Solution CAPEX $250M ~$350M $350M~$400M

Total Solution OPEX $1.8-3.5/Kg Li2CO3 $2-4/Kg Li2CO3

Processing Time(from wells to final product)

Hours 18 Months

Recovery 80%-95% Between 30% - 60%

End product Either Lithium Carbonate or Direct production of Lithium

Hydroxide

Lithium Carbonate production or Lithium Hydroxide from the

Lithium carbonate (at additional cost)

TAT Li process vs. Conventional pond process

• CYANEX® 936 is a breakthrough formulation for the fast-growing lithiumindustry

• Implemented as part of Tenova full Li process, it allows for rapid andefficient production of high-purity lithium salts through SX with reducedcapital and operational costs

• Solvay’s team of solvent extraction experts is available to providetechnical support in regard to laboratory tests, piloting, flowsheet designand validation, demonstration plants and operational ramp-up

Conclusions

www.congreso.expomin.cl

INNOVACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO MINEROINNOVATION FOR MINING DEVELOPMENT

23 – 27 ABRIL/APRIL 2018

Santiago, Chile

ORGANIZA Y PRODUCEORGANIZED AND PRODUCED BY

JUEVES 26 DE ABRIL DE 2017

1° SEMINARIO LITIO: REGULACIÓN, MERCADO Y TECNOLOGÍA

TAT-Li Process/CYANEX®936A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR LITHIUM EXTRACTION

Alejandro Quilodrán Fritz

Applications Engineer

Solvay -Chile