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Lithium Australia builds intellectual property rights for LieNA®

Published: 10:50 24 Feb 2020 AEDT

Lithium Australia NL - Lithium Australia builds intellectual property rights for LieNA®
LieNA® is a process able to recover lithium from the fine spodumene in waste or tailings streams.

Lithium Australia NL (ASX:LIT) has received a Notice of Acceptance from IP Australia for the LieNA® patent application filed in August 2017.

In additional, LIT has also received notification from World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) that its patent application for the second-generation LieNA® process technology has been published.

LieNA® is a proprietary technology for the recovery of lithium from spodumene, which is the most common hard-rock source of lithium for the production of critical battery chemicals.

While the recovery rate of lithium from current spodumene concentration processes varies, it can be as low as 50%.

Lithium Australia’s LieNA® process is able to recover lithium from the fine spodumene in waste or tailings streams from such concentration processes.

The LieNA® process has the potential to not only expand current hard-rock lithium resources and reduce mining costs but also improve the sustainability of spodumne production and the subsequent manufacture of lithium chemicals.

LieNA® could have multiple benefits for hard-rock miners

Lithium Australia’s managing director Adrian Griffin said: "The ability to process fine spodumene that would otherwise never enter the supply chain represents a real opportunity.

“Processing such material can reduce the environmental impact of hard-rock lithium mining and improve sustainability with no additional mining costs or footprint.

“Importantly, application of LieNA® could not only change the economics of spodumene production but also provide a means of producing lithium-ion batteries that includes fewer processing steps and better quality control.

“We appreciate the involvement of ANSTO, a leader in the field of lithium-extraction technologies."

Recent $1.3 million grant

LIT was recently awarded a federal government grant to support the next stage of its $3.6 million LieNA® research and development program.

The company will receive a $1.3 million grant for the research program which will provide a pathway to commercialisation of the processing technology.

Leading researchers and companies participating in the R&D program include ANSTO, Murdoch University and Curtin University.

Lithium Australia and MinRes forge ahead with LieNA® pilot program

Lithium Australia Ltd (ASX:LIT, OTC:LMMFF) managing director Simon Linge discusses with Proactive’s Jonathan Jackson progress on its Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) partnership having embarked on a pilot program for LieNA® processing technology. Linge elaborates on the joint development...

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