The following is interesting as it relates to lithium production and MMTE's part in any kind of future. One should read this press release carefully, because the world is already awash in lithium and more production is coming on line all the time. At the same time, the great hope for lithium investors was and still is the electric automobile. Unfortunately, consumers are rejecting that type of vehicle, choosing instead to go with hybrids. Making matters worse, various state and local governments are now proposing steep taxes on electric vehicles up front when you buy them. Their reasoning for such high taxes is because they are not collecting the gas tax revenue they all count on for road repair and construction.
POSCO CUTS LITHIUM RECOVERY TIME FROM 12 MONTHS TO 8 HOURS
South Korea's Posco has developed a chemical lithium extraction technology that reduces recovery time from around 12 months to just eight hours.
The technology, which was developed by Posco's own research unit, also increases the lithium recovery rate from a maximum of 50% using traditional evaporation ponds to more than 80%, Posco said in a release.
The lithium carbonate produced is more than 99.9% pure, according to the company.
The technology was presented on Tuesday at a pilot plant in Chile's northern region III where Posco is planning to develop the Maricunga lithium-potash project with South-America based Li3 Energy (OTCBB: LIEG).
The capacity of the pilot plant is 20t/y of lithium carbonate, and the technology can also be used to separately extract magnesium, calcium, potassium and boron, among others, according to the release.
http://www.bnamericas.com/news/mining/posco-c...to-8-hours
