Chile miner SQM says brine reduction plan to cost $1.5 billion
당국은 SQM의 소금물 사용에 대해 여러 차례 조사를 실시해 SQM의 영향을 줄이기 위한 계획을 제안했습니다. 이 회사는 계획된 담수화 공장이 생산 과정 동안 증발로 손실된 담수를 대체할 뿐만 아니라 질산염과 요오드 식물을 위한 높은 염분 농도의 물을 제공할 것이라고 말했습니다. 이것은 “완전히 중립적인 장기적인 물 균형”으로 이어지고 순수 민물 사용량을 “제로”로 이끌 것입니다. 소금물 사용량이 줄었음에도 불구하고 SQM은 연간 220,000-250,000톤의 탄산리튬을 생산할 것으로 예상하고 있습니다. Salar de Atacama는 현재 전 세계 전기 자동차용 배터리의 핵심 성분인 리튬 공급량의 거의 4분의 1을 공급하고 있습니다. (Fabian Cambero, 편집: Jonathan Oatis) (브렌던)OBoyle@thomsonreuters.com;)입니다.
SANTIAGO, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Chilean miner SQM SQMA.SN, a major producer of lithium, projects it will need $1.5 billion to execute a plan to cut its extraction of brine in half by 2030, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
In 2020, SQM committed to a 50% reduction in the brine it pumps to mine lithium in the vast Atacama salt flat in northern Chilean.
In a statement, the mining company explained that its Salar Futuro plan will modernize its process of evaporation and brine extraction, improve operating yields and adopt the use of seawater via a desalination plant.
“In a first analysis, it is estimated that investments will be close to $1.5 billion,” the firm said.
Authorities have conducted multiple investigations into SQM’s brine usage, leading the company to propose a plan to reduce its impact.
The company said a planned desalination plant will provide water with high-saline concentration for its nitrate and iodine plants as well as water to replace freshwater lost through evaporation during the production process.
This will lead to a “totally neutral long-term water balance” and bring its net freshwater usage “to zero.”
Despite its reduced brine use, SQM projects an annual production of lithium carbonate equivalent of between 220,000 and 250,000 tonnes.
The Salar de Atacama is home to almost a quarter of the world’s current supply of lithium, a key ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
((Brendan.OBoyle@thomsonreuters.com;))