Eramet recently inaugurated the Centenario Phase 1 lithium carbonate production plant in Argentina. This flagship is operated by Eramine, a joint venture owned by Eramet (50.1%) and its partner Tsingshan (49.9%).

The plant is designed to extract lithium from the salar brine and process it into battery-grade lithium carbonate. The start of production is planned in November 2024. Ramp-up is expected to be achieved by mid-2025.

At full capacity, the Centenario Phase 1 plant will produce 24,000 t/year battery-grade lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), equivalent to the requirements for 600,000 electric vehicles/year. Production will be very limited in 2024.

The total amount of investment for Centenario Phase 1 is forecast to be around $870 million. At full capacity, the cash cost for Phase 1 should be positioned in the first quartile of the industry cost curve (estimated at around $4,500 to $5,000/t-LCE), and the annual EBITDA is estimated at between $210 and $315 million1, based on a long-term price assumption of between $15,000 and $20,000/t-LCE.

In November 2023, Eramet’s Board of Directors conditionally approved the investment decision for a second plant at Centenario, representing an additional 30,000t-LCE per year. This approval remains subject to the obtention of construction permits as well as to the implementation of the new investment fiscal regime for large projects at Federal level, as this regime would enhance Centenario Phase 2 economics and financing conditions.

The Centenario-Ratones deposit is one of the most attractive salars in Argentina, located in Latin America’s ‘lithium triangle’ (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile). Eramet’s extraction rights are covered by a single concession of 560 km², for which the Group owns perpetual mining rights.

The drainable mineral resources amount to more than 15 Mt-LCE, with an average concentration of 407 mg/L of lithium contained in the brine, supporting further capacity expansion.

The Centenario Phase 1 plant will use advanced DLE technology. Tested for 5 years under real-life conditions in a pilot plant built on the Centenario site, it has achieved a high recovery rate of lithium contained in the brine of approximately 90%. In comparison, if using the traditional natural evaporation process in Centenario, the recovery rate would be 40-50%.

The DLE technology developed by Eramet is thus 50% more efficient than the conventional natural evaporation method. It also enables to reduce the production lead-time to 1 week vs a 12 to 18-month period for the conventional evaporation method. Developed in France by Eramet Ideas, the Group’s R&D and Open Innovation center, this technology is covered by 12 patents.