Lithium Americas opens technical development center

Lithium Americas held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late July for its new Lithium Technical Development Center (LiTDC) in Reno, Nev., which was developed to demonstrate the chemical process designed for the miner’s Thacker Pass lithium project in an integrated process testing facility.

The 30,000-square-foot LiTDC will support ongoing optimization work, confirm assumptions in the design and operational parameters, and provide product samples for potential customers and partners. Additionally, it has been designed to conduct test work on new target ores and brines and contains a state-of-the-art analytical laboratory capable of analyzing ultra-pure lithium compounds. 

The LiTDC’s initial production, using the Thacker Pass flowsheet and sedimentary resources from the project site, successfully produced 5 kilograms of battery-quality lithium carbonate. In addition to generating sample material, the facility will enable the team to continually optimize and de-risk each step of the flowsheet.

Thacker Pass is a two-phase project in northern Nevada with a production capacity designed to reach 60,000 tonnes per annum of battery-quality lithium carbonate and a 46-year mine life.

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