Peru is preparing a lithium refinery with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year

At an altitude of more than 4,500 m asl, in a region where the main economic activity—the alpaca livestock— has suffered the ravages of increasingly scarce demand, what will be the largest lithium refinery in South America and one of the most important in the world is being prepared, with a projected annual production of 100,000 tons of carbonate of the highest purity .

According to Ulises Solís, general manager of Macusani Yellowcake, the latest resource update at Falchani, located on the Macusani plateau, places the Puno deposit as the fourth most important lithium in rock in the world, only behind a mine in Congo and two in Australia. But only a million resources separate it from the third step.

“Our lithium carbonate resources have practically doubled. From the 4.7 million we had to 9.5 million today of carbonate as resources, of which 5.5 are indicated and measured,” he says.

In the region, at least, we are already number one, he explains. Solís maintains that, in South AmericaOnly SQM (Chile) has a refinery for the production of battery-grade lithium, but it is not supplied and they export much of the concentrated mineral. They also do not reach the required purity of 99.5%; that is, it has to be ‘re-refined’ in China.

“We, with the tests we have done, reached 99.82%. Initially, our refinery will have a production of more than 2,000 tons each month, which means that, in the first year, it will exceed 25,000,” Solís emphasizes.

But this initial investment of US$868 million in the complex Macusani It will only be for the first four years. The project will then be capitalized and expanded until having a production capacity of 45,000 tons in the eighth year, and then they will reach 100,000 in the 12th year.

The construction of the refinery, whose delivery date is scheduled at the same time as the mine (2027), does not anticipate industrialization as such for lithium, Solís clarifies. The production of batteries will have to be carried out by other firms, but, for now, they will not be limited to only exporting concentrates, as is the case with copper in Peru.

After bypassing the prior consultation, Macusani is also advancing with the drilling of the Quelcaya project, Falchani’s younger brother, a task that will require more than US$5 million. With both deposits, Peru would join the lithium triangle of South America, today dominated by Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. But its geostrategic position of exchange with China would be more auspicious.

The key

• Boom. A ton of lithium carbonate cost US$68,000 in 2022. Today it has fallen and is around US$20,000.
• Career. SQM will invest US$1.4 billion in the period 2023-2025 to increase its capacity to 210,000 tons.