Ecopro to develop lithium mine in Nevada with Australian firm

South Korean battery materials maker EcoPro Co. announced on Wednesday its subsidiary EcoPro Innovation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Australian lithium company Ioneer Ltd. to develop a lithium mine in Nevada, the US. 

The two companies plan to collaborate on research and development (R&D) of technology to extract lithium from lithium clay and produce lithium hydroxide.

Once the R&D is successful, EcoPro Innovation and Ioneer plan to pursue the construction of a North American lithium hydroxide conversion plant. If the plant is built, Ioneer will provide lithium clay from the Nevada mine to EcoPro Innovation free of charge and share the profits from lithium hydroxide production.

The Nevada mine contains an estimated amount of 77.4 million tons of lithium clay. Lithium clay is a clay-like substance containing lithium, and securing the technology to remove impurities and extract high-purity lithium is crucial. The industry estimates that it is possible to produce about 1 million tons of lithium hydroxide from the 77.4 million tons of lithium clay.

EcoPro Innovation possesses technology for converting lithium hydroxide used for cathode materials. Since Oct. 2021, it has been operating a commercial production facility for 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide.

The company produces high-purity lithium hydroxide from industrial carbonate lithium and recycled lithium. It is also building a second plant within the Pohang campus with the goal of mass production in Feb. 2024.

"Ioneer highly evaluated EcoPro Innovation's technological capabilities for lithium conversion processes," an EcoPro source said. "Based on the know-how of operating the first lithium hydroxide mass production plant in (South) Korea and patent rights for extracting lithium from used batteries, we will achieve good results in the near future."

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com