POSCO to construct lithium plant for rechargeable batteries

POSCO will become the first Korean company to start commercial production of lithium for rechargeable batteries.

POSCO said on Sunday local time that it held a groundbreaking ceremony to construct a plant to produce lithium for commercial use in Salta province, Argentina, with its Chairman Kwon Oh-joon and officials from the state in attendance. The company had signed early this year a supply contract with Lithea, an Argentine company that has the mining right for Lake Pozuelo, which is considered an ideal place for lithium production. Lake Pozuelo, a saline lake situated 4,000 meters above the sea level, is 106 sq. kilometers wide, and contains an estimated 1.5 million tons of lithium.

POSCO plans to produce 2,500 tons of high-purity lithium for secondary batteries per year at the production plant there. Considering that 40 kg of lithium is required as material for batteries for an electric vehicle, the production volume at the plant is enough to produce lithium for 60,000 electric vehicles.

The company will use an innovative, independent technology that reduces the extraction period to one month compared with the conventional production method, which required more than a year for lithium extraction. Since developing "high-efficiency extraction technology" in 2010, POSCO has been beefing up pilot production to 200 tons until recently, while checking economic viability of the technique.

Korea imports all of its lithium demand for secondary batteries. The country imported about 15,000 tons of lithium in 2014. A POSCO official said, “We have yet to start commercial production of lithium in earnest, but there are companies that have already asked us about lithium supply.” Kwon will have an exclusive meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Tuesday.

정민지기자 jmj@donga.com