Infinity Lithium says prices for lithium chemicals have increased 280% since the beginning of 2021 driven by EV related demand – and this shows no signs of abating in 2022.

This trend is particularly important in the EU and the company’s flagship San José Lithium Project in Spain, which is the second largest automaking nation in Europe.

“Lithium projects are scattered globally and there is essentially an arms race for this material,” the company said.

“In the EU there is the Battery Passport that is due to be implemented so there will be an interesting pricing paradigm to consider in the future aligned to carbon profile in this market.”

“The market is rapidly evolving and battery-grade product for LiOH will be a hotly contested area for consumers globally and in particular in the EU.”

With the EU having an enormous amounts already committed to lithium-ion battery (LiB) plants, the inevitable shortfall in battery-grade chemicals will push up prices as these operate at sub-optimal capacity.

Pivot underground at San José

Notably, Infinity Lithium’s (ASX:INF) San José Lithium Project hosts the second largest lithium bearing hard-rock resource in the EU and the company is committed to delivering on EU policy ambitions to produce high value, ethically sourced European battery materials for European EVs.

The company is pivoting towards underground extraction of lithium ore from San José – as evaluated in the integrated underground scoping study delivered in October.

“The move underground is essential from a societal perspective but also in line with the global trend towards using electrified fleets,” Infinity said.

“This is against the backdrop of not only ESG upside globally but particularly in the EU where the carbon footprint of a LiB will be measured by the Battery Passport.”

“Also, Extremadura is rich with renewable energy projects so there is an abundance of clean energy available and directly aligned to projects such as ours, including the ability to produce green hydrogen.”

GreenTech could unlock potential in smaller deposits

The company also sees upside potential for its Infinity GreenTech arm, which will be dedicated to developing Infinity’s wholly owned novel processing IP for the environmentally friendly and rapid process to extract value from/open up the development of lithium deposits.

“This technology may be able to be utilised for several different styles of deposits and potentially for different commodities,” the company said.

“GreenTech potentially provides a faster process and therefore there are economic advantages such as reduced CAPEX by virtue of the process simplicity (which will also positively influence OPEX).”

“The process may be able to utilise other lithium bearing ores s that may have been more marginal with traditional processes.”

“The process has environmental advantages with a simplified and shorter duration process around the recycling of key and non-toxic reagents.”

The technology development will be led by Chief Technical Officer and Executive Director Jon Starink and Technical Advisory Committee expert Dr David Maree.

MoUs for lithium and green hydrogen

This year the company secured several MoUs, including one with world leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, LG Energy Solution, for offtake of battery grade lithium hydroxide from San José.

Infinity also established an MoU with German-based engineering group thyssenkrupp to access green hydrogen for the energy-intensive kiln furnace within the San José chemical conversion process.

The production of green hydrogen is proposed to be powered via the vast reserves of renewable energy capacity in the Extremadura region.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Infinity Lithium Limited, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Read MoreLithiumLithium NewsLithium Stocks

Featured Companies

You might be interested in