Tivan successfully produced high-purity vanadium electrolyte at its Speewah vanadium mine project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, just days after beneficiation tests helped optimize the flotation process for its adjacent fluorite resources.
The Speewah vanadium ore was first roasted with salt to produce vanadium pentoxide, demonstrating electrochemical performance almost identical to commercial samples, meeting Sumitomo's battery-grade standards.
Compared to previous flotation tests, this fluorite test increased the fluorite grade to 98.8%, meeting acid-grade fluorite standards. Sumitomo Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding regarding fluorite deposits.
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Altamin announced that tests on simulated brine samples from its Lazio project in Italy indicated that technical-grade lithium carbonate, boron, and potassium sulfate could be recovered using the existing process design.
This work was completed by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which recommended prioritizing the traditional physical evaporation/precipitation method.
The next step will be optimization to enable the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate products.
