Reagents supplier targets lithium, other industrial minerals

11th February 2022 By: Sabrina Jardim - Creamer Media Online Writer

Reagents supplier targets lithium, other industrial minerals

WELCOMING LITHIUM With a new emphasis on lithium mining in the DRC, Axis House have created new reagents for different lithium-bearing ores

There is a new emphasis on lithium mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and, as a result, reagent supplier Axis House has developed a full set of reagents to tackle the different lithium-bearing ores, says Axis House technical manager Bernard Oostendorp.

“We have been refining our lithium collector range to economically recover lithium-bearing minerals at the target grades. Spodumene has been the major focus, although lithium minerals in the form of petalite and lepidolite have also been investigated. The collector range which consists of both anionic and cationic collectors, makes it applicable to the major processing methods of these lithium minerals.”

He notes that the global demand for lithium is expected to increase over the next few years, owing to rising demand on the back of increasing adoption of electric vehicles and the global shift to green energy.

In addition to collector selection, operating parameters are important to optimise during the lithium flotation process.

Feed density during conditioning and flotation, particle size and process pH are also optimised during the collector development. The major impurities are addressed by the correct elections of depressant and dispersants.

Axis House has expanded on its product offering to the DRC operations. Being historically successful with the copper and cobalt flotation reagents, the recent focus has been on the hydrometallurgical process.

New products launched for the hydrometallurgical process includes acid mist suppressants–VitriAx-E and VitriAx-M – which have been tested extensively at laboratory scale during the development and can successfully replace current industry standards without any negative downstream effects.

For the copper solvent extraction process, Xtrax has also been rolled out to the market as a copper extractant that is highly selective against other metal ions in solution.

With Axis House’s presence at customer sites, specific processing problem are continuously investigated.

Crud and excess foam formation in leach plants is becoming increasingly problematic, which led Axis House to develop the CrudAx range to mitigate crud formation.

CrudAx reduces and eliminates the formation of crud in the process, thereby improving the leach efficiency and further reducing metal losses.

Both products are relevant for commodities and ores in the DRC and are being implemented at mines throughout the country.

Oostendorp concludes that, owing to the current trend of increasing consumption of electronics, the amplified use of renewable-energy sources, and energy efficiency, “Axis House looks forward to partnering with existing and new operations in the DRC to optimise on metal recovery to meet the surging demand for copper, cobalt and lithium as we head towards 2030”.

Both products are relevant for commodities and ores in the DRC and are being implemented at mines throughout the country.

Oostendorp concludes that, owing to the current trend of increasing consumption of electronics, the amplified use of renewable energy sources, and energy efficiency, “Axis House looks forward to partnering with existing and new operations in the DRC to optimise on metal recovery to meet the surging demand for copper, cobalt and lithium as we head towards 2030.”