CleanTech Lithium has strengthened the technical case for its Laguna Verde lithium project in Chile after pilot-scale testing produced battery-grade lithium carbonate with purity of up to 99.75% Li₂CO₃. The results support the company’s preparations for a definitive feasibility study (DFS), while providing further evidence that its proposed direct lithium extraction (DLE) process can manage impurities and recover lithium from brine.
The pilot programme processed approximately 24 cubic metres of Laguna Verde brine and produced lithium carbonate with purity ranging from 99.69% to 99.75%. Independent analysis conducted by Alex Stewart Laboratory confirmed the product quality, demonstrating the flowsheet’s ability to deliver high-purity lithium carbonate under pilot conditions. The testing covered an integrated process combining direct lithium extraction with downstream purification, reflecting the proposed configuration for the project’s commercial operation.
Nanofiltration Delivers High Lithium Recovery
A central component of the pilot programme was a DuPont nanofiltration stage, which achieved 98.3% lithium recovery while rejecting approximately 99.8% of magnesium and 95% of calcium. Managing these impurities is critical to lithium processing. Elevated concentrations of magnesium and calcium can complicate purification, increase reagent consumption and place additional demands on downstream processing equipment. Effective removal is therefore important for maintaining product quality and controlling potential operating costs.
The pilot results indicate that the selected filtration technology can separate lithium from key impurities while retaining a high proportion of the target metal. Combined with the production of lithium carbonate meeting battery-grade purity levels, the findings support the technical assumptions underlying Laguna Verde’s development plans. The demonstrated recovery and product purity reflect pilot-scale performance. Their consistency under prolonged commercial operating conditions remains to be established.
Water Recycling Addresses an Important Operating Challenge
The programme also demonstrated the recycling of more than 90% of desorption water, another important parameter for the project’s proposed operating model. Laguna Verde is located in Chile’s arid Andean region, where water management is a significant consideration for industrial development. High water-recycling rates could help reduce freshwater requirements and improve the efficiency of the proposed processing circuit.
The ability to recycle process water, maintain lithium recovery and control impurities will be important in determining the project’s eventual operating performance. These factors will need to be incorporated into the engineering design and assessed alongside capital investment and operating expenditure as CleanTech Lithium advances toward a definitive feasibility study.
Laguna Verde Targets 15,000 Tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Annually
CleanTech Lithium is developing Laguna Verde around a proposed production capacity of approximately 15,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year. The latest pilot results support the processing assumptions used in the project’s pre-feasibility work and will inform the engineering and technical assessments required for the DFS. The next stage must establish whether the integrated extraction, filtration and purification process can deliver the expected performance at commercial scale.
For emerging direct lithium extraction projects, demonstrating high laboratory or pilot recoveries is only one part of establishing technical and financial viability. Continuous process stability, impurity control, water consumption and reliable downstream purification also influence whether a proposed operation can meet its production targets economically. Laguna Verde’s pilot programme has reduced some of these technical uncertainties, but it has not eliminated the risks associated with scaling up the process.
Definitive Feasibility Study Remains the Next Key Milestone
The definitive feasibility study will be a crucial step in determining the project’s commercial readiness. CleanTech Lithium still needs to demonstrate sustained operating performance, establish final capital and operating cost estimates and secure the financing required to build the commercial operation. A key objective will be to determine whether the proposed plant can maintain lithium recovery close to the 98% level demonstrated during pilot testing while consistently producing lithium carbonate that meets the required product specifications.
If the commercial flowsheet can reproduce those results under sustained operating conditions, Laguna Verde would have addressed an important technical challenge facing direct lithium extraction developments. The latest results therefore strengthen the project’s technical foundation as it advances toward feasibility engineering. Commercial success will ultimately depend on translating the pilot performance into a reliable, cost-effective and financeable operation.
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