Corporación Litio Verde is an association of professionals with vast experience in the mining industry and the implementation of proprietary technologies for the direct extraction of lithium from salt brines. It is the reliable provider of industrial DLE technology and salar development services. Corporación Litio Verde bases its work on three key concepts: “Localization, Training, Valorization”, it is an organization dedicated to articulate the existing capacities in entities, public and private organizations, in the Lithium Industry, initially in the area of South America known as the “Lithium Triangle”. The purpose of the Corporation is to promote and foster the development of the sector through the initiatives of integral solution of Direct Lithium Extraction, which allow solving the relevant challenges of this industry through the development of innovations, the application of technologies and industrial experiences through the collaborative work between all the entities associated to this ecosystem, in order to improve its competitiveness and sustainability. The conventional process of lithium production from salt flats by solar evaporation presents consumption of water contained in brines that can reach up to 500 m3/ton LCE, global recoveries that do not exceed 55% of the lithium contained in the brines, with lithium carbonate production periods that fluctuate between 9 and 18 months. In addition, to ensure the conservation of the salar’s biotics and ecosystem, it requires hydrogeological models with continuous monitoring systems that the companies have made an effort to make available to the stakesholders in real time. However, this modality of work is not sustainable in the long term. For experts, a sustainable and more efficient alternative is the method developed by applying materials science and industrial experience of DLE (Direct Lithium Extraction), based on the production and use of a resin that can preferentially adsorb lithium chloride with respect to the other salts present in the brines (magnesium, potassium, calcium and sodium chloride). Accumulated industrial experience has shown that it can even be applied to geothermal brines and water from the oil industry with 50 ppm lithium. This innovative process is carried out in less time, the production of lithium chloride in the plant takes less than one month, and making it available to the customer takes no more than two additional months. The minimum overall recovery of lithium from brines applying the DLE process is 80%, making a more efficient use of the lithium resource contained in salt flats, since the same lithium production can be achieved by extracting less brine, or it is possible to increase lithium production while maintaining brine extraction flows. In addition, the DLE process includes environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria that consumers will consider when selecting a future lithium producer. Currently DLE’s industrial experiences and commercial production operations are in China with the operation of two industrial plants that in total produce 3,000 tons of LCE/year and the next target is to reach a production of 20,000 tons of LCE/year. The same DLE technologies we also have several projects in South America both testing and demonstrations as well as collective research centers of integrated development technologies for salt flats in the lithium triangle area. Corporación Litio Verde has 5 initiatives such as:
- “Co-investigation space” clean technology “cotecspace”.
- A Brine Brine Processing Machine Service Center to Produce LCl3
- A Resin and Membrane Preparation Plant in South America
- A new energy industrial park
- A new energy investment platform