Tech companies linked to mining observe in Argentina a growing market with strategic possibilities for sectors such as lithium and copper, two of the segments with the best prospects in the country. Under that premise, Panorama Minero interviewed Amanda Hall, CEO and founder of the Canadian company Summit Nanotech, who gave her perspective on the current situation in the region around lithium and the details of the denaLi™ DLE technology, which promotes new standards for lithium extraction and which already has a presence in northwest Argentina.
The lithium sector has undergone global changes related to prices and bearish trends compared to historical prices observed months ago. How do you believe the sector will adjust in the future and over the next few years, and what is your outlook on the market? Have you identified specific risks, and do you have strategies to mitigate them?
In Latin America and the world, the lithium industry is of great importance both economically and in the energy transition process faced by countries, playing a central role in electromobility and renewable energy storage.
The characteristics of lithium and the projection of its demand worldwide, has installed it as an element that could make a relevant difference for the development of the countries that have it such as Argentina, Chile and North America.
Like any market, lithium is exposed to price variations. What is important for us in the long-term, is that the world demand for lithium will increase and that current production will not be able to meet these requirements. According to Wood Mackenzie data, for the year 2022 the lithium supply was 706,000 TPY, while the demand projection for 2035 is 3,700,000 TPY, this data motivates us to continue researching and positioning ourselves as a relevant player.
What are your considerations regarding possible replacements for lithium in technologies related to energy storage and EV production? Are the fundamentals of long-term demand still robust?
In the mining world, advances are always being sought to replace minerals with alternatives that are easier to scale up and have lower prices. Chile experienced this in the 1920s and 1930s with the decline of saltpeter due to the invention of synthetic saltpeter.
While we know that advances are being made in other types of energy storage technologies, the large-scale adoption of new battery technologies takes time due to the technical, economic and scalability challenges. Summit knows that lithium will continue to play a significant role in the transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage and that is our technological and business vision for the future in the short, medium and long term.
What are your comments regarding lithium development in Latin America, particularly in Argentina? What is Summit Nanotech's interest in the country, and what are your projections for the territory?
The expansion and modernization of the lithium industry requires significant investments in technology and production capacity. For this to occur, countries such as Chile and Argentina, through their regulatory and institutional definitions, must be able to attract investment and promote technological innovation to keep up with requests for a sustainable operation that can respond to global market demands.
In Argentina, we developed bench tests with Incahuasi brines at our Santiago facility during the fourth quarter of 2023. The data collected there will be used to support a pre-feasibility study and de-risk the planned in-situ demonstration in the future.
For our company, Argentina is a very attractive market and one where we see opportunities to help drive this industry forward in a sustainable and environmentally balanced way.
How are you managing relations with the new Argentine government? What are the most relevant regulatory aspects you consider when operating in Argentina?
Coordination with governments is key to making significant progress. We are in permanent contact with the different authorities to promote an industry that is forward-looking and committed to the territories where it operates. To advance in our strategy, we believe that the most important thing is to act in a spirit of collaboration and to generate trust in our interlocutors, which in this case are the authorities of Argentina.
At Summit Nanotech we work continuously with a holistic vision of non-metallic mining, seeking to change the paradigm of mining operations and incorporating technology, continuous innovation and a new way of approaching and establishing relationships with the communities that allow us to generate a long-term relationship that becomes a virtuous circle for the economic, scientific and social development of the country.
What alliances has Summit Nanotech forged recently, and in which lithium projects are you currently involved?
In August 2023, we announced a joint venture agreement with Power Minerals to accelerate lithium production, with the intention of sharing assets and ownership in the Incahuasi Salar in Argentina. Our goal is to increase the world's lithium supply through a sustainable and environmentally responsible production process.
The Incahuasi Salar brines have performed positively with Summit's sustainable technology, a process that extracts lithium from the brine using a sorbent and water recovery solution. With our denaLi™ technology, it will be possible to efficiently generate the large volumes of high-quality lithium needed to drive the global energy transition in an environmentally friendly and community-oriented manner.
How do you define the technology developed by Summit Nanotech, its advantages, specific value, and what contribution it can make to lithium production on a large scale? What are the main achievements and milestones reached so far?
At Summit Nanotech, we are driving new standards for lithium extraction through denaLi™ DLE technology. Field-proven, our technology reimagines lithium mining using a proprietary sorbent material and water recovery process to extract high-purity lithium much more quickly and sustainably.
We know that climate change is an urgent global issue and that efficiency in mining operations is also an essential element. Summit Nanotech is contributing to the evolution of today's lithium mines by extracting high-purity lithium from natural resources faster and more sustainably to meet the global demand for electromobility.
Another essential aspect of our work, hand in hand with innovation and sustainability, is efficiency in everything we do. At Summit Nanotech we change the paradigm of traditional brine pond mining, with our processes we have a low water consumption and we manage to recycle 95% of this element. Our waste generation is 70% less than traditional mining and our production process is more efficient, reducing from 12 to 18 months to one day, which allows us to have a yield of over 90%.
Do you think it is possible to produce lithium sustainably, considering community aspects, water use, and energy utilization?
At Summit Nanotech we are convinced that it is possible to produce lithium in a sustainable way. For this we have worked since our inception, to develop hand in hand with technology and innovation, a clean and efficient operation that allows us to change the paradigm of traditional mining.
Our proprietary system has been shown to recover up to 95% water in our process.
Always prioritizing the local. Summit is an integral lithium extraction company. We collaborate with communities and companies, contributing our pioneering technology to projects in the field. We seek a global and 360º view in our operation, taking care to have a balance with our workers, clients and communities.
