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Lithium Australia could be near to closing another loop in the battery economy, producing a slow release micronutrient fertiliser from recycling alkaline batteries. The fertiliser is tailor-made for broad-acre farming in WA and early indications suggest the crops have responded well to the treatment.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has just received formal accreditation for its three-phase lithium battery-based solar energy storage devices from the Clean Energy Council. The devices will be marketed by Soluna Australia, which is 50 per cent owned by Lithium Australia and 50 per cent owned by manufacturer DLG Energy (Shanghai) Co. Soluna's three-phase 15K Pack HV will now be added to the CEC's Battery Assurance Program guide.

Lithium Australia is set to claim ‘first mover' status after Envirostream signed two additional suppliers to provide spent EV battery packs for recycling through the company's innovative facility in Melbourne. These new contracts complete the company's supply chain with Envirostream claiming ‘first mover' status in Australia and set to expand the business through the Asia-Pacific region.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia's proprietary processing technologies continue to demonstrate that metal dust from old lithium batteries, discarded low-grade spodumene and mine waste can be converted into lithium ferro phosphates for the manufacture of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathodes.

Lithium Australia's patent application to take waste rock from a lithium mining operation and turn it directly into a lithium phosphate product suitable for making battery cathodes received a shot in the arm this week. An international examiner has determined the process is “novel, involves an inventive step and is applicable to industry”.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia, via its subsidiary, the Very Small Particle Company or “VSPC”, has refined the process for the production of its lithium ferro phosphate battery cathode powders, reducing the chemical input costs by 20 per cent in the process. Lithium phosphate raw materials produced using VSPC's optimised process returned excellent electrochemical results, according to the company.

Lithium Australia has begun work on its Wundowie nickel-PGE project in the hills east of Perth that were recently made famous in mining circles by Chalice Gold Mines who discovered a cracking nickel-PGE deposit in an area that was previously thought to have limited prospectivity. A first-pass review of the historical exploration data for Lithium Australia's project has revealed an extensive coincident copper, gold and PGE anomaly.

Lithium Australia's 50 per cent-owned lithium battery subsidiary, Soluna Australia, has installed its first residential modular lithium battery storage units in Perth. The lithium battery systems, which can be connected to roof mounted solar panels, store energy for later consumption – particularly at times when the sun is not shining. Soluna said the installations took place in the northern and southern suburbs over the past week.

Lithium Australia's patented “LieNA” process that could potentially change the economics of lithium processing by turning lithium waste ore into battery chemicals, is poised on the brink of commercialisation as the company looks towards its first-generation pilot-plant. LieNA takes fine spodumene ore that otherwise may have become waste and concentrates the lucrative lithium phosphate end-product by up to and greater than 85 per cent.

Lithium Australia said its 50 per cent owned lithium battery manufacturing subsidiary, Soluna Australia, is set to turn a profit by the end of December this year. Its modular lithium battery systems that can be linked to roof mounted solar panels can store unprecedented levels of energy for use at a future time when the sun may no longer be shining.

Lithium Australia subsidiary, Soluna Australia, has received approval from Australia's Clean Energy Council for its battery energy storage systems. The company said CEC accreditation ensures Soluna products meet all necessary standards and are safe to install across the country. Soluna Australia is a 50-50 joint venture between Lithium Australia and Chinese battery manufacturer, DLG Energy (Shanghai) Ltd.

Lithium Australia's patent application for its second generation “LieNA” lithium processing technology received a boost this week after the International Preliminary Examining Authority said its technology was “novel”, “inventive” and “industrially applicable”, all of which are precursors required to progress the patent application and seek legal protection in selected jurisdictions. LieNA recovers lithium from fine and variable grade spodumene that may otherwise report to waste.

Controlled field testing is underway near Kojonup in Western Australia's Wheatbelt for Lithium Australia's unique spent alkaline battery waste fertiliser product. The company is testing both the slow release nature of its product and the benefits of recycled manganese and zinc as a micro-nutrient supplement for WA's broad acre pastoralists in a region with soils that lack these two critical nutrients.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has formed an alliance with neighbour and fellow ASX-listed explorer, Australian Vanadium and privateer, Mercator Metals to explore for nickel-copper-PGE across contiguous tenements in the hills east of Perth. Lithium Australia said the alliance will target look-alikes to ASX-listed Chalice Gold Mines' nearby Julimar project where a significant nickel-copper-PGE discovery was made just 29km to the northwest.

After a successful round of greenhouse tests, Lithium Australia is set to undertake field trials for its spent alkaline battery waste fertiliser product near Kojonup in Western Australia's Wheatbelt. It is aiming to deliver recycled manganese and zinc as micro-nutrient supplements to WA's broad acre pastoralists in a region that produces around 14 million tonnes of grain annually.

In an extraordinary demonstration of its aim to “close the loop” on the energy-metal cycle, Lithium Australia has tabled its initial results from test work using recovered alkaline battery metal dust to create a micro-nutrient supplement for plant fertilisers. Lithium Australia conducted “glasshouse pot trials”, growing wheat in a variety of controlled scenarios including using the recycled dust.

Local heavy rare earths producer, Northern Minerals, has executed a letter of intent with Soluna Australia to develop a renewable energy power plant and battery storage facility at Northern's Browns Range mine in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Soluna Australia is the energy storage division of ASX-listed Lithium Australia and Chinese joint venture partner, DLG Energy.

After thirteen years of research and development in advanced cathodic materials, ASX-listed Lithium Australia, via its subsidiary, the Very Small Particle Company, is about to ramp up its commercial cathode powder production. VSPC is finalising an agreement to produce 1,200 tonnes per of lithium ferro phosphate cathode powders initially in China to supply battery manufacturers to the burgeoning Chinese electric vehicle market.

Lithium Australia has received its certificate of grant from IP Australia guaranteeing up to 20 years of patent protection relating to its “LieNA” lithium processing technology. LieNA takes fine lithium spodumene ore and concentrates it by up to and greater than 85%. Traditional recovery methods are currently as low as 50%, with the rest going to waste, according to Lithium Australia.

Lithium Australia will focus on ramping up revenues from its Envirostream battery recycling plant in Melbourne whilst implementing targeted austerity measures to preserve as much of its $3.3m cash balance as it can throughout the global COVID-19 crisis. The company also said it is expecting Soluna Australia to generate revenues from battery sales during the current quarter whilst exploration and technology development expenditures are deferred.

Lithium Australia has received a notice of acceptance from IP Australia, all but ensuring that the patent applications for its “LieNA” lithium processing technology will be approved. The company patents will provide for 20 years of protection for its intellectual property with the technology set to revolutionise the lithium industry by increasing lithium recoveries by more than 85% from fine spodumene ore, waste or even tailings streams.

Lithium Australia plans to continue research its proprietary recovery process to extract lithium from fine and contaminated waste materials after being awarded a Federal Government grant of $1.3m. The company has also applied for a patent over the intellectual property from its research into the recovery of lithium from fine spodumene waste and tailings ore. The funds will advance the technology that has ramifications for the hard-rock lithium industry.

Lithium Australia subsidiary, VSPC, is to receive a $1.6m grant as part of a $5m, federally-funded research program to develop "fast charging" lithium-ion batteries for new generation trams with a view to eliminating overhead wires. VSPC will be joined by Australia's CSIRO, the University of Queensland and Soluna Australia. VSPC, or the “Very Small Particle Company”, is a leader in the lithium battery cathode powder field.

A Federal Government co-funding grant from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre of up to $185,000 has been awarded to Lithium Australia's subsidiary, VSPC, to assist in developing its lithium battery recycling capabilities. VSPC takes spent lithium-ion battery metals and/or mine waste and produces lithium-iron-phosphate metal oxides that can be commercialised in the rapidly growing environmentally friendly renewables space.

ASX-listed Lithium Australia has taken a major step forward in its mission to obtain patents for the recovery of lithium phosphate from lithium bearing silicates and solutions after the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation published two of the company's patent applications. It is the fourth step on the road to the granting of the patents, which can take some time to achieve.

Lithium Australia, through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, VSPC, has signed a potentially lucrative agreement with major Chinese chemical manufacturer, Beijing Saideli Technology, that will see the Perth based company progress the commercialisation of its battery cathode technology. The plan is to hit the downstream lithium-ion supply chain, collaborating on an international scale to commercialise VSPC's cathode technology.

Lithium Australia and partner, Envirostream Australia, look like getting into cashflow after shipping their first batch of recycled lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite that was extracted from old lithium-ion batteries that otherwise would have been sent to landfill. Lithium Australia know owns 84% of Envirostream and is aiming to get to 90 per cent in time.

Lithium Australia has joined forces with Chinese firm, DLG Group, forming a 50:50 incorporated joint venture to be known as Soluna Australia Pty Ltd. Soluna will sell lithium-ion battery and energy storage products as it seeks to disrupt the rapidly expanding Australian renewables energy market. Soluna will provide a platform to leverage off complementary technology and facilitate the provision of new battery materials and recycling solutions.

Lithium Australia is radically transforming the lithium market by creating a new “circular economy” courtesy of its lithium-ion battery recycling technology that essentially “harvests” battery metals from spent lithium-ion coin cell batteries. The ASX-listed company produced its first paid shipment of a valuable recycled mixed metal dust this for South Korean offtake firm, SungEel.

Lithium battery supply chain disrupter, Lithium Australia, is making significant inroads into the lucrative Chinese and Japanese battery markets following the successful first stage testing of its “lithium-ferro phosphate” battery cathode material. The company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary VSPC, is now looking to set up a supply chain in China during 2021 and another in Japan by 2022 as it meets growing demand from the energy storage and transportation sectors.

Lithium Australia has increased its equity in strategic partner, Envirostream Australia, from 23.9% to 73.7%. Envirostream is on its way towards becoming potentially the largest recycler of lithium battery minerals in Australia. It is looking to develop a national lithium battery recycling program from spent lithium-ion batteries that would ordinarily have been sent to landfill, providing a further market-leading niche for Lithium Australia.

Lithium Australia's partial subsidiary, Envirostream Australia, has executed an offtake MoU with South Korean company SungEel HiTech Co., Ltd for the sale of its recycled battery metals as a “mixed metal dust” product. SungEel will refine the materials into suitable chemicals for the production of new lithium-ion batteries and effectively “close the loop” for the battery manufacturing and recycling business.

Lithium Australia's ongoing review and consolidation of its business into four operational divisions; raw materials, lithium chemicals, batteries and recycling is progressing well. The company is looking to create a separate and distinctive identity for each division with one eye on potentially listing each of them in the future or at the very least, attracting investment directly into each entity.

Lithium Australia has increased its equity in strategic partner, Envirostream Australia from 18.9% to 23.9%. Envirostream is aiming to develop a national lithium battery recycling program that will recover battery metals that would ordinarily be sent to landfill. The increase enables Lithium Australia to increase its exposure to the lithium battery recycling space that is rapidly gaining momentum.

Lithium Australia has conducted a review and consolidated its business into four operational divisions; raw materials, lithium chemicals, batteries and recycling, with a view to potentially providing separate listed vehicles for investors to get behind. The lithium trailblazer's business units effectively hang off every part of the lithium cycle from raw materials right through to the manufacturing of battery cathodes.

Lithium Australia has achieved its goal of generating a high-quality cathode material suitable for producing lithium-ion batteries, by recycling spent batteries. The company says the cathodes were used to create coin cell batteries with an electrochemical performance that exceeded its expectations. The company is seeking to “close the loop” on the energy-metal cycle, by producing materials suitable for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries from the components of old recycled batteries.

Lithium Australia has created an innovative new process that could potentially revolutionise the lithium battery recycling space. The company recently recovered lithium, nickel and cobalt from spent batteries during a trial. The process is able to salvage valuable metals normally sent to landfill and potentially “close the loop” for the lithium battery manufacturing industry.

Lithium Australia is expanding its potential lithium chemical product suite with its “LieNA” lithium processing technology transitioning from a scoping study to a more comprehensive pre-feasibility study. The technology converts fine spodumene that would normally confound conventional processors into a suite of battery chemicals including lithium phosphate, hydroxide, sulphate or chloride salts.

Lithium Australia has now extended the strike of lithium-bearing pegmatites at its Youanmi project near Sandstone in WA's Murchison region to over 2,500 metres after its recent drill campaign returned more lithium hits. The results include a top hit of 1 metre grading 4.1% lithium oxide from 23m down-hole within a broader intercept of 6m @ 1.6% lithium oxide from 22m.

Lithium Australia has hit another milestone on its road towards recycling lithium-ion batteries with the successful production of lithium phosphate from mixed metal dust derived from waste battery electrodes. The company is currently in the process of using this lithium phosphate to produce lithium-ferro-phosphate cathode powder that will then be used to manufacture coin cells for testing.