Present Situation and Prospects for Lithium Carbonate Production in China   

By Zhang Jiangfeng   

Lithium carbonate is a basic material for producing lithium salts and lithium metal. Its production methods can be divided into lithium extraction from ores and lithium extraction from salt lake brines according to different resources used in the production process. At present, lithium extraction from salt lake brines is the world's mainstream production method, while lithium extraction from ores is mainly concentrated in China with a production capacity of around 20 000 t/a.
    Although China boasts abundant salt lake resources, it was not until 2004 that it achieved key breakthroughs in the technology of purifying lithium carbonate from brines with high magnesium/lithium ratio, and entered into the global lithium carbonate market. At present, China's lithium carbonate production capacity is about 35 000 t/a while in 2007 and 2008, the output was around 18 000 t/a and 20 000 t/a respectively, so it can basically satisfy its own lithium carbonate demand every year.

Main lithium carbonate manufacturers in China    

* Xinjiang Haoxin Lithium Salts Development Co., Ltd.  
In 2008, the company produced more than 8 000 tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide monohydrate. It currently has six technological processes for lithium salt production with its technical indicators leading the industry and its production capacity reaching up to 10 000 t/a.  

* Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc.   
In 2008, the company produced 10 000 tons of battery/industrial grade lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and lithium hydroxide monohydrate. At the end of 2008, it acquired a lithium mine in western Sichuan province.

* Baiyin Zhabuye Lithium Industry Co., Ltd.   
In 2008, the company produced 2 000 tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide monohydrate. It is now building new project for extracting lithium from salt lake brines. The first-phase 5 000 t/a lithium salts production line (3 000 t/a lithium carbonate, 2 000 t/a lithium hydroxide) has been completed and put into operation, while the second-phase 17 000 t/a lithium salts project (including 12 000 t/a lithium carbonate) has also got government approval. The raw materials for the project are from Zhabuye Salt Lake, Tibet. Since the lake is located at a high altitude, and its natural conditions and infrastructure construction are relatively poor, it cannot meet the company's raw material demand.

* Qinghai CITIC Guoan Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd.   
The company produced 2 000 tons of lithium carbonate in 2008. Its production capacity for this product is 10 000 t/a at present, and its second-phase 25 000 t/a lithium carbonate project will be put into operation soon. Upon completion of the second phases, its total capacity will reach 35 000 t/a.

Prospects   

In early 2008, The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science & Technology decided to carry out pilot work in 13 cities like Beijing and Shanghai to demonstrate and popularize energy-saving and new-energy cars. The auto-industry revitalization plan recently approved by the State Council further confirmed this supportive policy. Increasing demand for batteries will greatly boost lithium consumption. The investment and capacity expansion in the lithium carbonate industry are gradually warming up, too. Apart from the new projects of Baiyin Zhabuye Lithium Industry Co., Ltd. and Qinghai CITIC Guoan Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd., the Yichun government of Jiangxi province is also planning to construct a 12 000 t/a project extracting lithium from lepidolite.
    Until China's several large-scale projects go into operation, the world's production will still be concentrated in three companies: Chile-headquartered SQM, US-headquartered FMC and Germany-headquartered Chemetall. The capacities of these three enterprises are respectively 40 000 t/a, 20 000 t/a and 30 000 t/a with all their lithium extracted from salt lakes. China can recover 20 000 tons of lithium from ore every year, but this method is seldom used abroad due to its high costs. At present, although the large-scale lithium carbonate projects of domestic manufacturers who extract lithium from salt lakes have been put into operation, China's lithium carbonate market will still be dominated by manufacturers extracting lithium from ore in the near future and keep it that way for a while.    
   Considering China's capacity expansion in extracting lithium from salt lakes and the possible production increase of several overseas enterprises, some experts estimate that in 2009, the global lithium carbonate capacity may grow by about 60 000 t/a and exceed 150 000 t/a, thus basically meeting the international market demand. They also point out that of all the growth, at most 45 000 t/a will be contributed by China.


China's lithium carbonate output in 2008    
Company
       Output (ton)    Resource      
Xinjiang Haoxin Lithium Salts Development Co., Ltd
　　　4 000         Spodumene and lepidolite in Xinjiang region, China
Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries. Inc.
　　　5 600         Spodumene in Australia
Sichuan Aba Guangsheng Lithium Co., Ltd
　　　2 000         Jinchuan county, Sichuan province, China
Sichuan Ni & Co Guorun New Materials Co., Ltd.
　　　1 000         Maerkang, Sichuan province of China
Sichuan Jixiang Lithium Technology Co., Ltd.
　　　500           Ore imports from Australia and domestic procurement
Baiyin Zhabuye Lithium Industry Co., Ltd.
　　　1 000         Zhabuye salt lake in Tibet
Qinghai CITIC Guoan S & T Development Co., Ltd.
　　　2 000         East and west Taijinar salt lakes
Western Mining Co., Ltd.
　　　1 000         East and west Taijinar salt lakes
Source: CNCIC