French mining company Eramet has inaugurated its Centenario lithium carbonate production plant in southwestern Argentina. The plant is operated by Eramine, a joint venture in which Eramet has a 50.1% stake and its partner Tsingshan has a 49.9% stake.
The plant will extract lithium from saline brine and process it into battery grade lithium carbonate. Production is expected to begin in November 2024, with a ramp-up period through mid-2025. At full capacity, the plant is expected to produce 24,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year, which is equivalent to the demand of approximately 600,000 electric vehicles per year. The total investment is estimated by the company to be approximately US$870 million.
High Efficiency through Direct Extraction
The Centenario plant uses a proprietary direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. Eramet has tested this technology for five years under real-world conditions in a pilot plant at the Centenario site. In this process, a recovery rate of approximately 90% of the lithium contained in the brine was achieved. According to the company, a conventional natural evaporation process would only achieve a recovery rate of 40 to 50 percent. In addition, the DLE technology reduces production times from 12 to 18 months to one week.
Potential Future Expansion
In November 2023, Eramet’s Board of Directors gave conditional approval to the investment decision for a second plant in Centenario. This expansion is expected to produce an additional 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year. This approval is subject to the issuance of construction permits and the implementation of a new investment tax regime that would improve the economics and financing of Phase 2.
