Agriflex to supply phosphoric acid to Lithium Australia

Australia-based phosphate rock producer Agriflex has agreed to supply high-quality phosphoric acid to Lithium Australia for its lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) or lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) production.

The firms have signed a non-binding initial agreement, which envisages Lithium Australia building a demonstration plant with an estimated capacity of 250 t/yr of LFP or LFMP, potentially in Queensland. The plant will require around 200-300 t/yr of phosphoric acid, Agriflex's parent company Centrex said on 16 April.

Lithium Australia will move on to build a commercial plant with an estimated capacity of around 25,000 t/yr of LFP or LMFP if the demonstration plant is successful and following pre-qualification of cathode powders. The commercial plant will need 20,000-25,000 t/yr of phosphoric acid. No timelines were provided, except that the initial agreement will run for a period of 24 months.

Agriflex will conduct a study to produce high-quality phosphoric acid with low impurity content in Queensland for supply to Lithium Australia.

The two firms are committed to building a battery supply chain domestically in Australia, to provide global battery producers an alternative supply source for LFP and LFMP.

By Huijun Yao