Lithium fever increases and demand increases (environmental protest also increases)

Reporter: Can we talk about a lithium boom?

Hector Simone: Yes, in a year, global demand for lithium carbonate has risen from 250,000 tons to 350,000 tons. And it is estimated that by 2023 the demand will triple. Today, the consumption of mobile phone batteries is ahead, accounting for 70 or 80% of the market, but the development will be exponential for car batteries and solar and wind energy systems. We have to be at the bottom of the canyon and prepare for the biggest boom.

Q: What project are you working on?

HS: We are quite advanced in the development of metallic lithium with sulfur. It has a density almost five times higher, which means that a 20-kilo battery has the same efficiency as a 100-kilo battery. Nowadays, vehicles carry a lot of weight in batteries, a car about 350 kilos and a microphone up to 1,800 kilos.

Q: Does the mineral have any other uses?

HS: It has many industrial and medicinal uses. But the world is setting its sights on what has the biggest economic impact: the current business moves $ 6.7 billion. And this is just beginning.

Q: Environmental events are multiplying …

HS: As in all mining production, there are questions. But hydrogeologists say that salines are not endogenous. While they have the salt above and you have to drill 10, 100 or 500 meters to reach the brine, they have an intake system for thawing and an outlet. They are not lagoons that are likely to dry up, they have a system of equilibrium that regulates itself. Unless the brine is removed excessively, but at high production levels, these water balance systems are not affected. In any case, we continue to study and conduct research, we must constantly monitor them.

Q: One of the questions is that it affects millions of gallons of water.

HS: Some people think of collecting water through membranes to get into it when they are salting, but this could alter the natural dilution system of the chemical elements. When an item is deleted and what remains is added again, it affects the balance of the components. Yes, it could be salvaged for agricultural use or for other purposes. At the same time, we are studying the production of fertilizers and other industrial derivatives with salts generated during the process, such as potbadium and magnesium. Its buildup is not polluting, but we wish to take advantage of the side products so that the cost of obtaining lithium also benefits.

Q: Does the process also consume a lot of energy?

HS: The current system consumes energy during pumping. Then, the brine is piped to the pools and after a year or 14 months you get lithium chloride or lithium carbonate by evaporation. It is a very slow process, but even in this case it does not consume energy. In the case of an electrolysis process, on which we will do pilot tests, this requires more energy: it must be injected to produce ionic separation. Where extraction takes place, there are no electrical networks. In this case, we should get energy from a future expansion of the Cauchari Solar Power Plant. Otherwise, it will be difficult.

Q: Can it be produced in another way in the future?

HS: As with all technologies, new processes are emerging. Photovoltaic energy is one example: silicon solar panels were very expensive and now they have dropped the price a lot. In parallel, there are already polymer panels and, when they will have better efficiency, they will replace them. With lithium, it's the same thing: many centers around the world are sure to get similar results with sodium. The difference is that sodium is found even in seawater, is present in very high levels and is much cheaper. The technology is moving so fast that we need to take advantage of the long period of application in a short time, no more than 20 years.

Q: What will be the key to our country?

HS: Let's develop our own technology, if we do not continue to receive the leftovers. And we have to support the investigation on time, because if we have the lithium sulfur metal technology ready in four years, they will have done it in another place. Asian countries grew because they let the United States set up factories, which allowed them to have cheap labor, but they realized then that ## 147 ## They could do it themselves. There they said, "We are not just workers, we are going to train ourselves". We must do the same, otherwise we will continue to sell bulk soy and lithium carbonate forever.

Q: Is there any chance of competing with giants like China?

HS: There will always be competition, it is inevitable with such large companies. In volume, they will always win us, that is why we must seek a niche technology. Exports are important for all our foreign currency productions, but it would be very advantageous to have a clean market that secures the marketing of the product.