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VIS , those numbers will be 20,000tpa + thats the going rate for a statement. I know they can issue a smaller amount at this stage so maybe they could get away with intended 20,000 but initial interest is for 8,000tpa Hydrox 0
Yes that is right CL are looking to do far more. In year one they envisage 500 tonnes from Brine and 10,000 tonnes from hard rock extracted using the Lepidico method. Thereafter they will ramp up lithium from brine. Maiden resource will be coming in the next 7-8 days if they are able stick to their guidance. As I wrote before this is all a fast moving feast-dates/ tonnages/ depths extraction rates etc all in a state of flux. With immense pressure to get up and running as fast as possible our numbers etc may soon be out of date.
VIS , E3 who are in a similar position to CL are looking at 20,000tpa of Lithium Hydroxide scaling up to 150,000tpa Lithoum Hydroxide.
CL must be looking at way way more than 500tp ?
Strange. Its not often and pretty much always on Oz listed stocks ?
Major ,nothing yet
DCTA & EMH also have red cross. EMH has no news release as yet. Waiting for EU time on cinovec ?
IG tonight at 00:24 has Cornish Metals as not tradable with a RED CROSS. Normally this indicates news rns which is price sensitive. IG I watch for mt Australian investments so its quite strange to see this on a UK stock.
Strap in , it could be a nice 7am start ? Fingers crossed anyway
Vii which I think they will if demand continues to rise imho
Hi VIS.
Thanks for the info. 100% sure that is not going to happen. 500tpa of lithium carbonate ? Thats about a couple of tons of Lithium Hydroxide ? Absolute minimum they must have at least 50,000tpa of Lithium Carbonate. The CAPEX alone makes it non viable at those levels. Hydroxide plant costs around US$350-375M. That is before any rock or spade work.
They will have big news then for you if that is the current level of expectation.
Sp should fly if 500 tpa is the target. Sounds bonkers to me.Cinovec at 50,000 tpa would make a bit of cash but they want 100,000tpa and if possible 2 shifts at the face for rock.
Brines are 24/7 365 and they are looking at 500tpa ?
8,000tpa would be what I would be starting at and not get out of bed for anything less tbh.
Give it another day and I will post that info & a video.
That might help.
Major Oak
Thanks for the info. My understanding is the CL will be looking to produce around 500 tonnes Lithium Carbonate per annum from brine in 2025 (for now its intended first year of operation) and around 10k tonnes from hard rock - but the latter would not be using the roasting method, but the Lepidico method. But all this is a fast moving feast which may be speeded up if HMG intervenes ................
VIS - found this today which may suggest possible flow rates not just for VUL but also CL?
"US LITHIUM"Direct Lithium Extraction
The Company’s first-of-its-kind in the world DLE Demonstration Plant is installed at LANXESS’ South Plant facility near El Dorado, Arkansas. The Demonstration Plant utilizes the Company’s proprietary “LiSTR” technology and is designed to continuously process an input tail brine flow of 50 gallons per minute (gpm; or 11.4 m3/hr) from the Lanxess South Plant, which is equivalent to an annual production of between 100-150 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate. "
That is just the 3 wells which link up. They have the potential for their own licences to expand and the buy in option of Tetra Tech licences next door on the same geological plain for brines. They could be looking at within 10 years , a production rate of 100,000 lithium carbonate S Plant to x5 so minimum 500,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate so approx 50,000-75,000 High Grade Lithium Hydroxide minimum, possibly by 2027 100,000tpa Lithium Hydroxide.
Thats the potential of brines.
Plus its all modular = Laxness ( Bayer Chemicals ) to licence the tech off for royalties.
Major Oak.
Thanks for the very interesting posts. I am convinced that the drilling and pumping are entirely possible and have been costed.
We need to know how those costs compare with established way s of producing lithium. Given that geothermal power is involved it is likely costs may be significantly reduced and perhaps be negligible after various by-products are sold - e.g. the heat/surplus electricity generated/ other minerals in the brine and possibly the de-mineralised water if the brine is arriving in arid locations. If the processing of brine can take place underground another major cost (pumping to the surface) could be reduced. Another key item is the level of contaminants. Expensive chemicals and processing time will be needed if contaminants are present. CL is lucky in that respect. As well as having found brine rich in Lithium, the brine is very low in contaminants.
PS Keep an eye out on Crowdcube over the next few weeks...................
Homing in ... lol.
"Albemarle operates two main plants at Magnolia, in Columbia County, Arkansas, and some satellite plants in Union County. In 2007, Albemarle had capacity to produce 148,000 tons of bromine per year. " and I guess returns all the brine back to the aquifer each day. VUL - CL - Standard Lithium should all be looking at around 20,000tpa Lithium Hydroxide or in the region of 160,000tpa Lithium Carbonate.
Still plugging away buy found this to show that ONE water supplying facility Albemarle run pumps 12 Million gallons per day. Now I know this is not like for like but it does show the ability per day to shift a hell of a lot of liquid in a basic US County facility without issue. +4.2 Billion gallons of water a year for drinking.
I would imagine the processing is easily much more intensive as it is for human consumption not just industrial use.
Regarding depth the following article shows the Smackover formation in the US and the schematics.
Again depth is about right too. So again its been done.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150906130508/http://www.geology.ar.gov/energy/brine_resources.htm
Put these 2 together and depth + volume per day are physically possible.
Dealing with geothermal involves the pressure at depth of heated water + steam at surface = power and pressure required to self process to a % of the process for free ( other than initial cost of well and maintenance over the life of the well ).
VIS - I am going to start wide with THE biggest "pumper" of geothermal water in the US if not the world , for comparrisons to volumes that can be re injected. So Albemarle in the US are the kings of bromine and for 40 years have been reinjecting processed water back in to the Arkansas basin. I found this piece a good base for newcomers to geothermal liquids inc lithium so have posted this as an opener to more detailed research on your question. It does however answer it in part ? Bulk brines are being replaced without issues and over decades.
Now for more actual detail.
https://www.miningmagazine.com/chemicals-reagents/opinion/1411213/op-ed-albemarle-should-build-their-magnolia-dle-project
Major Oak
Many thanks for your reply. I will look forward to Sunday evening. Meanwhile will be scouting around for other likely sources of Lithium.
Vii
Hi VIS. Sorry, been doing other research and you can probably tell I'm slotting stuff in when I can grab 10 mins.
Can I do the simple answer first? With lithium , as you are very well read and will know , if its spodumene 1%+ min rock your looking at US$500-750M raising on average on big projects. If its the kind of low grade mica lithium like in Cinovec / Saxony / Cornwall then its going to cost more USD$750-900M on a typical large mine ? With brines from what I have read and know less about as its pretty new tech we are dealing with across the board, its not mining but chemical processing - different ball game with cost. Its not about extraction its all about the 24-36 hour drying / filtering process very energy intensive BUT genius in that from brine to LCE its fractions of time v's any other method. This itself surely has huge cost saving / supply effieciency too ?
Now the first bit on extraction rates. Give me until Sunday evening and I will see what I can find out.
Happy to be invested in Standard and seeing how their new plant performes ? This will give a good indication from a brine demonstration plant. As for Vulcan pump rates , again I am happy to go with the info they give out, they are the pro's at this however with Laxness basically being Bayer Chemical I am more interested in the first processing data sets. They are yet to come out based on a September initial start up so allowing for tweaks and building up results should be any day ( I think that is what is driving the current 3 weeks rise, those in the know ).
Will try and get something together. Working tomorrow and staright out to see Henning Wein so a full day.
Sunday - day of rest ? No chance lol.
Back to you asap.
MO.
"I would be up in Bodmin NW corner "
Any idea who owns the mineral rights in that area? Both CL and BL say they have rights covering large areas of Cornwall.
Thought for you re Vulcan
40+k tonnes of Li from brine at 200ppm suggests 5,000x 40k tonnes of brine will have to be pumped per annum. i.e. 200m tonnes of brine. Thats a lot of brine to be replaced underground every year without dilution!
Do you know how long they can pump at that rate ? I suppose if it is from a number of different sites it would be drawing on a massive geographical area..........................
and
Big funding demands to come up front for Vulcan see fig 4 of page 3 of Canaccord’s initiation of coverage report 14 April 2021. So lots of shares to be issued - if you have an idea of when that might happen it might be a good idea to take some profits beforehand.