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Demonstrates low-cost lithium extraction from spodumene, suggesting a sustainable solution for battery production.
The production of lithium chemicals needs to increase to meet rising demand for lithium batteries. Spodumene [LiAl(SiO 3 ) 2 ] is an abundant mineral source of lithium, but its extraction is not cost-competitive with brine resources. Current spodumene-refining methods are energy- and waste-intensive, requiring high-temperature roasting (>1000°C) and chemical leaching. We demonstrate a low-temperature, near-zero-waste process that converts α-spodumene into battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ), smelter-grade alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), and cementitious silica (SiO 2 ). Aqueous ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F) is used as the reagent to solubilize the mineral feedstock at <100°C in a closed-loop process that regenerates the reagent. Techno-economic analysis indicates that this approach may reduce the cost of producing lithium from α-spodumene by >40% and enable cost parity with brines.
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Mowbray et al. (2026) studied this question.
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