Standard Lithium continues to develop novel and innovative technologies. This includes its Selective Inline Fractionation Technology (‘SiFT’) process to produce high purity battery grade lithium carbonate from lithium chloride.

This fully automated lithium carbonate plant has been designed around proprietary continuous fractional crystallization technology, which has demonstrated to produce greater than 99.9% purity (also known as ‘three-nines’) battery quality lithium carbonate. The crystallization plant was constructed at Saltworks Technologies Inc. in Vancouver, B.C. The plant was commissioned with lithium chloride produced at Standard Lithium’s Demonstration Plant, as well as reprocessing technical grade lithium carbonate sourced from South American brine operations into battery quality lithium carbonate. Post commissioning the SiFT plant, it was transported to Arkansas and installed at Standard Lithium’s existing Demonstration Plant.

The SiFT plant is hydraulically integrated with the Standard Lithium’s existing operating DLE Demonstration Plant, making full use of instrumentation, control, reagent, and process-flow connections. At site, the SiFT process has successfully produced greater than 99.9% purity battery-quality lithium carbonate using lithium chloride produced from Smackover Formation brine.

With the implementation of SiFT plant, Standard Lithium achieved the first and only continuous, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, start-to-finish brine-to-carbonate plant in North America.

Standard Lithium SiFT building

Inside of the SiFT building