CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF) has announced the successful production of a high-purity lithium carbonate sample, achieving a purity of 99.78%.
It comes as part of the company’s efforts to advance its sustainable lithium projects in Chile.
The lithium carbonate was produced at Conductive Energy's facilities in Chicago using concentrated eluate from CleanTech Lithium’s direct lithium extraction (DLE) pilot plant in Copiapó, Chile.
This downstream processing is designed to be scalable and energy-efficient, to be capable of producing battery-grade material.
Temporary challenges arose amid freezing weather conditions in Chicago, nevertheless, the company’s team was able to process a portion of the concentrated solution into an 8kg sample of lithium carbonate.
And, a University of Calgary laboratory has confirmed the purity exceeded Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate standards, although some impurity levels were slightly higher.
“This phase of work has focused on fine-tuning the process and preparing to scale up pilot plant output,” executive chair Steve Kesler said in a statement.
“Our collaborative efforts with Conductive Energy and Forward Water on the downstream process are advancing our aim to produce significant quantities of battery grade product to introduce to potential strategic partners and off-takers."
Cleantech Lithium, meanwhile, noted that it has decided to voluntarily delist from its quote on the OTCQX in the United States after management deemed it could not see the value from low trading volumes and the associated administration costs. It will retain existing listings on AIM, Frankfurt and the OTC Pink.