I noticed that some here do not really understand the difference between Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide in EV battery production and what EUR is going to/proceeding to produce. Big difference for investors.
European Lithium (EUR) will concentrate on production of Lithium Hydroxide. I hope this might help some make their decisions in investing in Lithium. Facts are important for actual investment of your money. (In the past some fast tract production could be for the ceramic business in Europe which utilizes L. Carbonate).
3. What about hydroxide?
As mentioned, lithium hydroxide is becoming more popular than lithium carbonate, at least in terms of manufacturing electric vehicle batteries.
While lithium hydroxide is more expensive, it can also be used to produce cathode material more efficiently, and is actually necessary for some types of cathodes, such as nickel–cobalt-aluminum oxide (NCA) and nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC).
As Jean Francois Magnan, technical manager for
Nemaska Lithium (TSXV:
NMX), once explained in an
interview, “because hydroxide decomposes at a lower temperature, it accelerates the process. It uses less heat, less
energy, so you produce more cathode material with less energy, and you can still use the same equipment.”
Demand for lithium production has risen significantly in recent years due to the growing electric vehicle market, and lithium hydroxide is expected to outpace lithium carbonate in terms of demand growth.
That might not sound like good news for lithium carbonate, but as explained above, the material still has plenty of uses beyond batteries. And since it’s still a precursor to lithium hydroxide in most cases, lithium carbonate could still have a place in the lithium-ion battery supply chain moving forward.
This is an updated version of an article originally published by the Investing News Network in 2015.
https://investingnews.com/daily/res...-carbonate-lithium-hydroxide-nemaska-lithium/
