Lithium Korea Participates in Acquisition of GN1 Energy... "Rapid Lithium Extraction from US Salt Lake within 10 Days"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Lithium Korea is participating in the acquisition of the KOSDAQ-listed company GN1 Energy to promote a business extracting lithium (Li), a key raw material for cathode materials of secondary battery batteries, from the salt lake of the Great Salt Lake in the United States.

According to Lithium Korea on the 14th, it will invest a total of 7 billion KRW on December 21 to acquire 2,347,137 shares of GN1 Energy. It will acquire 1,230,355 shares held by the current largest shareholder GNC Energy and additionally acquire 1,113,585 shares by participating in a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase.

Established in 2002, GN1 Energy operates a fuel cell business that produces electricity using geothermal heating and cooling systems utilizing underground heat and hydrogen energy extracted from city gas.

Lithium Korea is promoting a business to extract lithium, called "white oil," from salt lakes in cooperation with GN1 Energy. The strategy is to achieve rapid results by utilizing GN1 Energy’s geothermal power generation technology and the lithium direct extraction technology of its technical partner, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM).

Lithium hydroxide has the highest usage proportion among the raw materials for cathode materials, which are core components of secondary battery batteries. To manufacture 1 ton of high-performance cathode material for electric vehicles, about 0.46 tons of lithium hydroxide is required.

The raw materials for lithium hydroxide are divided into lithium brine dissolved in water and lithium ore mined from mines, with 87% of the world’s lithium deposits located in salt lakes. To concentrate lithium from brine, the brine is naturally evaporated by solar power for over a year, then processed to produce lithium carbonate, which is further converted into lithium hydroxide through additional processes. However, the construction cost of large evaporation ponds is expensive, and the total production time for lithium hydroxide takes 18 months.

Lithium Korea has partnered with KIGAM to apply a technology that rapidly extracts lithium carbonate from brine within 10 days to the U.S. salt lake. This technology adds an aluminum (Al) source to the brine, converts lithium containing Li-Al LDH (chemical compound) into water-soluble lithium sulfate through a sulfate roasting process, and produces a high-concentration lithium solution directly via a water leaching process at room temperature. This lithium solution can then be manufactured into lithium hydroxide.

A Lithium Korea official said, "By utilizing KIGAM’s technology, the formation rate of insoluble Li-Al LDH is fast and its solubility is low, making it applicable even to low-concentration brine," adding, "It is possible to recover over 80% of lithium from brine, and it can also be applied to geothermal water and lithium wastewater."

Lithium Korea introduced the lithium direct extraction technology to U.S. renewable energy companies and signed a research consignment contract with KIGAM in April to develop a lithium resource recovery production process for the U.S. salt lake. It also signed a strategic partnership agreement with U.S. Mineral Resources International (MRI) and is conducting lithium recovery experiments at the Great Salt Lake salt lake.

The official said, "In September, Lithium Korea and KIGAM visited the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake State and the Salton Sea area in Imperial County, signing a pilot plant installation contract to produce lithium from the Great Salt Lake salt lake," adding, "After completing the acquisition of GN1 Energy in December, we plan to disclose the progress and results of the lithium business."