Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions (Veolia WTS) has been selected by Eramet, a global mining and metals group, to supply critical technologies to concentrate and purify lithium brine at the Centenario-Ratones lithium mining project in Salta, Argentina.

The project will use a novel direct lithium extraction (DLE) process, developed by Eramet and facilitated by Veolia WTS technologies, which uses extraction, concentration and purification to extract lithium. This novel process increases the yield of lithium to more than 90% and speeds up the production process to just a few hours. By comparison, conventional extraction methods that rely on solar evaporation produce a significantly lower yield with a production lead time of 12-24 months. Hammer Mill Hay Cutter

Veolia WTS will provide Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes, as well as a thermal technologies package consisting of a Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) evaporator and a Thermal Vapor Recompression (TVR) crystallizer to enable this novel direct lithium extraction (DLE) process .

"Veolia WTS has been supporting the global lithium market for several years, adapting our technologies to offer customers the ability to increase production throughput and reduce production time and environmental impact compared to conventional extraction processes," says Michael Odam, Commercial Manager of Lithium Projects in Latin America for Veolia WTS. "We are proud to work with Eramet to develop the solutions needed to increase the efficiency and performance of the lithium extraction process as it becomes increasingly critical to support the global energy transition."

Veolia WTS collaborated closely with Eramet in the development and adaptation of its thermal and membrane technologies for Eramet's DLE process. A long-term pilot program was carried out at Eramet's R&D facility in France, followed by additional pilot work at its Project Site Training Center in Salta, Argentina, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technologies. .

"Veolia WTS's ability to tailor the application of their products to our complex flow lines, together with their performance guarantees, made them the best technology provider for this project," says Hervé Montégu, Senior Vice President of Lithium BU. in eramet. "Our combined expertise and continued collaboration with Veolia WTS will mark a milestone in lithium production as demand for the mineral soars and production increases."

“The Centenario-Ratones lithium extraction project is a wonderful demonstration of how lithium producers can harness existing process and water technologies to enable new innovations that can deliver significant economic, environmental and social benefits,” says Odam.

The project is expected to produce 24,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent once it comes online in 2024.

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