4DS and LIT announced new patents today. Picture: Getty Images.
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Two ASX-listed stocks posted some exciting news on the patent front yesterday.
Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) announced the European patent office intends to grant a patent for the company’s first-generation LieNA lithium processing technology.
The patent will provide LieNA with legal protection in nominated European countries for the next 20 years.
4DS Memory Tech (ASX:4DS) has also announced the granting of an additional patent in the US for its Interface Switching ReRAM microchip.
The new patent represents the 31st US patent 4DS owns in its portfolio.
LieNA is a process developed by LIT which is designed to improve the recovery of lithium from spodumene, the most common hard-rock source of lithium.
Lithium is currently one of the most in-demand metals in the production of critical battery materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Improved processes in lithium recoveries can reduce both the footprint and environmental impact of mining, and enhance sustainability.
LieNA consists of a caustic digestion process followed by acid leaching to recover the desired lithium chemical.
Unlike conventional lithium chemical production that relies on roasting and an acid leach, no roasting is involved, making it a more environmentally sound method of processing spodumene.
Importantly, the LieNA process can recover lithium from the fine and low-grade spodumene, that if done in a conventional process, would become wastage.
In fact, the recovery rate of lithium during a conventional spodumene beneficiation process can be as low as 50%.
LIT’s drive for battery-material sustainability that adhere to high ESG standards has earned it government recognition, as evidenced by federal co-funding for a LieNA plant project valued at $3.6 million.
Earlier this month, LIT was also granted an Australian patent for SiLeach, a process which provides for low-energy recovery of lithium from micas, and could potentially be a short-cut in the production of lithium-ion batteries.
4DS designs and manufactures its pioneering Interface Switching ReRAM microchips from facilities in the Silicon Valley.
The Switching ReRam technology is used for the next generation gigabyte storage in mobile and cloud, and was developed as a faster and a more power-efficient alternative to the existing DRAM and NAND Flash technology.
The company has been developing the technology in collaboration with imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nano-electronics.
Detail of today’s patent was as follows: “Resistive memory device having a template layer – Patent Number 11,043,633”.
All 31 patents granted to 4DS are all 100% owned and developed in-house, and are free from any royalty or licensing obligations.
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