Sal de Vida

Sal de Vida is a globally competitive project with superior brine chemistry that readily upgrades to battery grade lithium carbonate.

The Resource estimate of 6.85 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) has an average grade of 752 ppm Li and low levels of impurities, making Sal de Vida one of the highest-quality brines globally. The Reserve estimate of 1.74 million tonnes of LCE supports a 40 year project life.

The deposit sits more than 4,000 metres above sea level and lies within the “lithium triangle”, an area encompassing Chile, Bolivia and Argentina that contains a significant portion of the world’s estimated lithium resources.

The project is designed to produce predominantly battery grade lithium carbonate through an evaporation and processing operation at the Salar del Hombre Muerto site.

The adoption of battery grade as a final product was the result of a technical breakthrough achieved by the process development team. The simplistic flowsheet utilises mature technology, and was internally developed based on its low consumption of energy and water.

The initial production target of 15,000tpa in Stage 1 is readily expandible to a 45,000 tpa brine operation with an additional 30ktpa from Stage 2.

Long-term hydrological pump testing under operating conditions has demonstrated excellent brine extraction and aquifer recharge rates to support the production design basis.