Rockwood Holdings, an advanced materials and inorganic specialty chemicals company, has planned to invest $140 million to construct a new lithium carbonate production facility in Chile.
Besides the present $75 million extension program of the company in the US, this new investment will increase the production potential to 50,000 t of lithium carbonate annually equivalent by the end of 2013.
The company will construct a lithium carbonate plant with capacity of 20,000 Mt near the Antofagasta port in North Chile, as per the new investment program. This plant is expected to commence the production by the end of 2013. Currently, the company is completing the formerly declared $75 million expansion program in the US, including the extension of the brine pond system at Silver Peak in Nevada. In addition, this program has included the construction of a global technical center and a battery-grade lithium hydroxide facility at Kings Mountain in North Carolina. These US-based locations are expected to start production this spring.
Seifi Ghasemi, CEO and Chairman of Rockwood Holdings, stated that there is an increased demand for lithium, in particular high purity compounds of lithium needed for manufacturing large lithium ion batteries that is to be used in future electric vehicles. This demand necessarily increases the production potential in order to meet the increasing needs of the clients.
Source: http://www.rocksp.com./