Perth based lithium trailblazer, Lithium Australia, has conducted a rationalisation program across its entire operation in order to strip it down into four separate business units with a view to make them potentially investable and listable on the ASX.
The four business divisions cover the entire battery energy-production cycle across raw materials, lithium chemicals, batteries and recycling.
Lithium Australia’s Managing Director Adrian Griffin said:“Reorganisation of the company’s business units and asset base will create more focused opportunities for investors with an appetite for the energy-metals and battery sectors.”
“Lithium Australia will be able to reduce costs while continuing to deliver the benefits of its current research programmes.”
The raw materials division houses a number of prospective exploration landholdings and is also seeking partners to develop its proprietary technologies that can extract material historically considered to be waste, such as lithium micas and fine spodumene.
The new divisional manager, Mark Strizek, is in the process of rationalising the company’s tenement holdings and conducting a thorough review of its historical exploration across WA, NT, QLD and SA.
The raw materials division is now seeking partners for a percentage stake in its Global portfolio of exploration assets and to recover waste minerals for processing through technologies in the lithium chemicals division.
The lithium chemicals division uses patented processing technologies such as SiLeach®, and LieNA® to recover lithium waste materials for re-use in battery production and other commercial applications.
Lithium Australia has partnered with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to develop these waste extraction technologies in the past.
The company’s battery division that houses The Very Small Particle Company, is focused on the development of cathode powders for use in lithium-ion batteries and boasts three patents that cover technological processes for cathode powder development.
Lithium Australia is currently in discussions with industry players in China and elsewhere to establish a supply chain for cathode powders produced from the recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries.
A pre-feasibility study for a 5,000 tonne per annum cathode-material project has now been completed, with its strategic recommendations the subject of internal review.
The battery recycling division incorporates its 18.9% ownership of Australia's only domestic battery recycling company, Envirostream Australia.
Lithium Australia and Envirostream are developing a national battery recycling program with the ability to recover battery metals, including lithium from used lithium-ion batteries.
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