Adjusted demand is expected to reach 710,000 tons of LCE in 2022, and may further grow to 1.65 million tons of LCE and 4.09 million tons of LCE in 2025 and 2030.

1. Lithium demand has grown rapidly, and the development of lithium extraction in salt lakes is imperative

. Against the background of demand outbreak, the supply of lithium resources showed a high supply concentration after being cleared in 2020. In addition, the epidemic has significantly lengthened the time period for overseas resource countries to shift from peak investment and financing, peak capital investment, and peak production capacity, as well as the " long-tail effect " in which the global supply chain has increased stocking efforts, resulting in limited supply elasticity and significant mismatch in supply and demand, which has driven the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate to hit a record high, reaching 500,000 yuan/ton at 22Q1. Starting from 2022, the lithium industry will enter a new stage of strong supply and demand.

2021 The total global lithium demand in 2021 was 580,000 tons of LCE, a year-on-year increase of 59%. We expect it to be 710,000 tons in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 22%, and is expected to reach 1.65 million tons in 2025, and is expected to increase significantly to 4.09 million tons of LCE in 2030, with a CAGR of 25% from 2022 to 2030.

Lithium has transformed into a purer "battery metal", and power demand has taken over the main body!

Adjusted demand is expected to reach 710,000 tons of LCE in 2022, and may further grow to 1.65 million tons of LCE and 4.09 million tons of LCE in 2025 and 2030.

Source: Company announcements, Wugang Securities Research Institute predicts that 62.6% of the global lithium resources are brine lithium, contributing about 45% of the global lithium production in 20 years.

my country's salt lake lithium resources account for more than 80%, and its development potential is huge. my country's lithium resources are about 7.14 million tons (metal equivalent), of which 81.6% are deposited in the salt lake, 10.9% are in the form of spodumene , and 7.5% exist in the form of lithium mica . By region, Qinghai Province has the richest lithium resources, accounting for more than 40% of the country, followed by Tibet and Sichuan, accounting for 31.1% and 10.6% respectively.

According to the different characteristics of the storage form of lithium ore resources in nature, the current mainstream lithium extraction technology is divided into ore lithium extraction and salt lake brine lithium extraction .

The two methods have certain differences in process flow, cost-effectiveness, etc. Salt Lake Lithium Extraction does not require the concentrate processing process, so the cost is relatively low.

Salt Lake Lithium Extraction Use the salt lake brine to extract the lithium-containing brine formed by potassium salt . After deep removal of magnesium, carbonization and complexation, lithium carbonate can be obtained.

main processes include precipitation method, extraction method, , calcination method, adsorption method, membrane method, , etc. Compared with ore lithium extraction, the lithium extraction process of salt lakes is simpler, so the cost is lower, generally between 20,000 and 40,000 yuan/LCE ton. The lithium extraction cost of overseas salt lakes with excellent resource endowment is even less than 20,000 yuan.

Relying on the rich salt lake resources, South American countries such as Chile , Argentina , and South American countries currently mainly adopt salt lakes to extract lithium.

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the demand for lithium resources is growing day by day. With the tension in Sino-Australia relations, the importance of self-sufficiency in lithium mines in Western Australia is becoming increasingly prominent. How to leverage the scale advantages of salt lake lithium, especially the development of salt lake lithium resources in my country, is crucial to the future development of my country's new energy vehicles and energy storage industries.

2. Future mainstream processes: adsorption + membrane

Salt Lake lithium extraction process includes three links: front-end brine mining, mid-end enrichment and separation, and back-end product conversion. The difference in process is mainly reflected in the mid-end enrichment separation ring section. The front and back end processes of the salt lake are not much different. In the mid-end link, the low content of the brine lithium and complex chemical composition determine that the difficulty of the brine lithium extraction process lies in the mid-end link - enrichment and separation of lithium. The lithium extraction process below refers to the process involved in the mid-end enrichment and separation link.

The process design of lithium extraction in salt lake needs to vary from lake to lake and adapt to local conditions.

The following table shows a comparison of several lithium extraction processes:

combined with the salt lake lithium extraction industry exchange meeting attended last two weeks. My personal summary is as follows:

membrane method: suitable for concentration at least 2-3g/L.

extraction: suitable for concentrations of 1-2g/L, the most efficient and economical.

adsorption method: it has a wide range of applications, especially for low-content brine. After adsorption, the film can be separated by magnesium and lithium.

Calcination: high energy consumption, very bad sensory in the environment, the least optimistic in the background of carbon neutrality, and the chance of survival is low.

electrodialysis : High requirements for lithium content, and with nanofiltration membrane , there are fewer salt lakes in Qinghai Tibet that can reach high lithium content.

Extraction: Organic substances, water index COD cannot pass.

Electrical Deembedding: Jinyuan Co., Ltd. conducted a 2,000-ton pilot. It is hard to say how efficient it is. Electrical Deembedding has evolved from lithium iron phosphate and lithium iron manganese iron phosphate materials. It looks good, and its efficiency is relatively low at present. The principle of the adsorption method of

is that it can achieve the functions of separation, purification, concentration, and enrichment of substances through ion exchange and adsorption of the exchanged substances. Therefore, it can be used in many solid-liquid separation processes and has a wide range of potential applications. The barriers to adsorbing resin and lithium adsorbents in lithium extraction in salt lakes are high. has been commercialized and has the most widely applicable brine types (chloride type, magnesium sulfate subtype, etc.) mainly aluminum molecular sieve adsorbents, and the next generation of manganese ion sieve adsorbents and titanium ion sieve adsorbents are also expected to be commercialized in specific salt lake brines. , the aluminum-based molecular sieve adsorbent is the only industrialized and mature adsorbent at present.

adsorption material can adsorb and elute lithium ions through intercalation and water formed by lithium source:

adsorption method, nanofiltration membrane, and reverse osmosis membrane. The combination of these adsorption additional membranes is relatively wide, low lithium salt fields, and 100 to 300 mg/L adsorption can be separated. If you encounter a relatively high brine content, you cannot directly adsorb the original halogen, add filter membrane, permeability membrane, and then separate magnesium and lithium.

In the future, the adsorption additional film will be the mainstream in most chloride and magnesium sulfate subtype salt lakes in Qinghai and Tibet. In carbonate salt lakes, lithium carbonate is directly precipitated in the form of carbonic acid, and the membrane is not easy to use. Because most of the Qinghai Tibet is chloride salt lakes and magnesium phosphate subtype salt lakes account for the vast majority of , carbonate salt lakes are relatively few in China, and , the adsorption + membrane method is expected to occupy most of the market in China.

The water at the beginning is natural brine in the salt lake. In the later stage, it is artificially replaced water. It is injected from the surface water, and then dissolves the lithium in the soil and salt lake, and the taste will decrease. Therefore, after 5-10 years, adsorption still needs to be solved.

South American SQM, the magnesium-lithium ratio is low, so use precipitation method. In recent years, the magnesium-lithium ratio, calcium-magnesium ratio and copper-lithium ratio have been developed in South America. If you do battery-grade lithium carbonate, the copper-lithium ratio will also affect the product quality quite a lot. Companies that have gone overseas in the past two years have faced relatively complex resource components, although they are a little better than those in Qinghai Tibet.

So even when going overseas, from the perspective of process and environmental protection, adsorption + film is still the most promising. For example, Mount Everest in Tibet also uses adsorption + membrane method in South America. For example, six companies competing for the development of Bolivia three major salt lakes are adsorption + membrane method.

adsorption + membrane process flow: first performs preliminary separation, then nanofiltration membrane, then magnesium lithium separation, then reverse osmosis membrane, and then concentrated.

If there is no disruptive technology, the adsorption + film should occupy the main body.

Currently, the scale effect of this method is relatively good, and the cost will become lower and lower in the future. After the star effect is formed, is estimated to account for 60 or 70%.

3. Comparison of salt lake lithium extraction process service providers

Focusing on the construction of lithium extraction production capacity of salt lake lithium extraction, the main technical service links include: process package design, lithium extraction material development (adsorbent, film, extraction agent, etc.), supply of special devices, engineering design/construction/operation, etc.

Among them, the design of the key process package and the development of lithium extraction materials are undoubtedly the most valuable. It provides a comprehensive solution of "material + device" to further consolidate barriers and improve competitive advantages.

Lanxiao Technology: is a professional integrated solution provider for adsorption materials + equipment formation, and accumulating technology with both technology and experience. Lanxiao Technology is a leading enterprise in the field of adsorption separation materials in China. It has independent intellectual property rights and specializes in providing special adsorption separation materials for salt lake lithium extraction, as well as supporting system devices and overall solutions with adsorption separation materials as the core, especially the aluminum-based molecular sieve adsorbent industry. As of June 2022, the company has completed and under construction of 9 industrial adsorption units and entire lines, with a capacity of approximately 73,000 tons of lithium salt, objectively demonstrating the company's recognition in the lithium industry.

Lanxiao Technology has the most cooperation contracts in the lithium adsorption and extraction process in China, and has rich case experience:

Jiuwu Hi-Tech is a leading enterprise in the field of ceramic membrane . It focuses on the research and development and application of membrane materials and membrane separation technology mainly based on ceramic membranes, and provides membrane integration solutions to the fields of industrial process separation and special water treatment. The company's ceramic membrane has an annual production capacity of 38,000 square meters. In the field of lithium extraction in salt lakes, the company further extends to the field of efficient adsorption materials based on its advantages in the fields of membrane materials and membrane modules. The products include sodium lithium, magnesium lithium separated aluminum adsorbents and titanium adsorbents. In May 2022, the company also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the mining giant Zijin Mining and worked together to build a related system for the lithium salt lake resource development of salt lakes. Jiuwu will provide technical support for the lithium adsorption material development and lithium extraction process development for the lithium salt lake resource projects that Zijin plans to acquire and have acquired, and also provides technical support for Zijin's lithium resource deep processing projects, sodium adsorption material development, metal lithium electrolysis and bipolar membrane electrolysis technology development.

Lanxiao Technology and Jiuwu Hi-Tech have a relatively overlapping business. They have their own adsorbent, nanofiltration membrane, and reverse osmosis membrane to make an integrated integration.

Qidi Holdings , its business focuses on membrane separation technology, relying on Tsinghua University's School of New Materials, School of Environment, School of Chemical Engineering, etc., and focuses on the application development of salt lake lithium extraction, seawater desalination, material separation and concentration, municipal engineering, industrial water treatment and other fields. The company's team has been deeply rooted in Qinghai. Since 2016, it has participated in the membrane-based magnesium-lithium separation + concentration project of Lanke Lithium 1+20,000 tons of lithium carbonate production line, etc., the lithium chloride separation and concentration device of Zangge Lithium 10,000 tons of lithium carbonate, and the 2,000 tons of lithium carbonate pilot project of Qinghai CITIC Guoan Lithium. In March 2022, Qidi Qingyuan (Shanghai) and Songdu Lithium Technologies signed a full-line BOT cooperation agreement for the 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate project of Argentina SDLA Salt Lake to provide lithium extraction equipment, operation and technical services for the project.

company is still mainly used for membranes, and nanofiltration membrane + reverse osmosis membrane market is more important than Lanxiao Technology and Jiuwu Hi-Tech. There is no adsorption involved at this time.

membrane angle , the product difference is not big. These companies do not produce membranes themselves, but they all import membranes from foreign countries or find membrane manufacturers to get goods. It mainly does engineering and operations. Whoever has strong integration capabilities will have lower costs.

nanofiltration membrane is mainly imported from the United States and Japan, and the difference is not big. From a technical point of view, if the scale is large, the cost of getting the film is lower, and here is the difference. There is no domestic company that can reach the level of the United States and Japan, so it is time to break through. If extreme situations occur, foreign countries do not allow the introduction of membranes, which will be the time for the development of the domestic membrane industry. Sinochem International , Ningbo production base has been done, but there are problems with flux and tolerance, and the service life will be affected. Sinochem International has always wanted to enter, but has not found a suitable mine yet. The gap in permeable membranes is not very big, mainly using foreign brands, such as LG, Dow , Toray , etc. It can also be done in China. Some are foreign brands and some are foreign technologies. The domestic substitution market is very large.

engineering level , Lanxiao Technology won the bid for Jinhai Lithium's 10,000 tons of LCE EPC in 2021, 450 million. This price can't cover the cost, and the project was not paid in the end. This area requires at least 500-600 million. There are all achievements in , Wumin , Zangge.It is currently the stage of market development. With the wider application scope, the maturity has gradually increased. By not making money in the past few years, the market will be opened and then earned back.