China achieves breakthrough in extracting lithium from salt lakes

BEIJING -- China has achieved a major industrial breakthrough in extracting lithium, a critical metal for electric vehicle batteries, by launching the world's first 20,000-tonne production line that uses novel technology to extract lithium from salt lake brine.

The facility, built by Qinghai CITIC Guoan Technology Development Co., Ltd. in Northwest China's Qinghai province, has begun operating at target capacity, People's Daily reported on Thursday.

The successful operation of this production line will markedly enhance the comprehensive utilization rate of China's salt lake lithium resources and extend their viable development lifespan.

It provides a crucial model for the industry's upgrade towards greener, smarter, and larger-scale operations, according to the report.

Lithium, often called "white gold," is a fundamental component for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics, and large-scale energy storage systems.

This breakthrough is seen as a pivotal step in building a more self-reliant and secure lithium supply chain for China, underpinning the strategic security of its booming new energy sector, it said.

The core technology, a proprietary process with multiple patents, raised the lithium recovery rate from the salt pan stage, where industry averages were below 50 percent, to over 78 percent. Furthermore, the overall lithium recovery rate across the entire production workshop surged from 75.38 percent to 90.41 percent, the report said.

The new production line represents a major advancement in processing lithium from salt lakes, a type of resource abundant in China but historically challenging to exploit efficiently due to high loss rates during traditional solar evaporation in salt pans.

Beyond improving yield, the new method significantly shortens the average production cycle for battery-grade lithium carbonate and drastically reduces lithium loss compared to traditional evaporation processes.

The technique also ensures the comprehensive utilization of associated resources like potassium and boron remains unaffected, promoting synergies between resource efficiency, economic benefit, and environmental sustainability, according to the report.