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> It is a complex, often proprietary process, changing Ph etc, and while patented it still has a lot of black art. Yeah that's what I figured, but doesn't rea
by cinquemb 5y ago
> It is a complex, often proprietary process, changing Ph etc, and while patented it still has a lot of black art.
Yeah that's what I figured, but doesn't really tell me about the costs vs mining (which will be hard to tell from the outside because of the above) :/
- aurizon 5y agoThere are thousands of pegmatite deposits, with a mixed bag of nuts (associated minerals), each one needs to ba assessed as to extractable grade, the size of the deposit, the location, the environment etc. You do not get a pure Li ore body - it burns in air = you get a deposit of 2-3% Li with a mixed..... So lithium carbonate is worth about $15 per kilogram of the hydrated carbonate. LiCO3.2H2O = how it is used industrially with further processing. This can be followed here. https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/mining/publications/lithium.html https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/mining/publications/lit... https://www.fastmarkets.com/commodities/industrial-minerals/lithium-price-spotlight https://www.fastmarkets.com/commodities/industrial-minerals/...
- cinquemb 5y agoThanks, the second link looks very helpful and gave me further ideas on how to try to work backwards to get an idea of the recycling processing costs: find spot prices of raw/intermediates that come from the process produced by companies with the black box recycling processes while trying to find those companies volume sold/processed over time (ideally they would process more when the underlying market is more expensive).
- aurizon 5y agoThe only way is to read the quarterly MD&A and F/S from the various mining companies. The management discussion and analysis will give greater details, and the Financial Statements show the cash flows. A listed companies must file them quarterly and there is an annual report - all of which are audited.