“Brazil can be seen as a low-cost reference compared with other global spodumene producers. We compete very well with several geographies: better costs due to geological issues, cheaper labor and electricity… There’s a list of factors that makes us competitive, ” Vinicius Alvarenga, chief executive officer of Companhia Brasileira de Lítio (CBL), told Fastmarkets in an interview.
CBL currently produces 45,000 tonnes per year of spodumene concentrate, of which 30,000 tonnes is exported – mainly to China – while 15,000 tonnes are used in the company’s own refinery, which produces around 2,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Half of the produced LCE is exported and half is used domestically. Additionally, CBL is currently working on a project to increase mining production to 100,000 tpy of spodumene and expand its chemicals production to 6,000 tpy of LCE.
In Brazil, lithium is produced mainly in the Vale do Jequitinhonha, in the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. The region is usually called “Lithium Valley.” The State Secretariat for Economic Development (SEDE) of Minas Gerais told Fastmarkets that the state has the largest national lithium reserves, and the mineral deposits in Brazil have competitive characteristics and advantages when compared with deposits in other countries.
For the rest of this article: https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/brazil-low-cost-lithium-production-a-potential-global-reference-but-internal-challenges-may-delay-progress/