Types of consumption
The large car makers predict persistent growth of the hybrid and electric cars sector. It is believed to reach a market share of 10-30% to 2020.
Nowadays lithium-ion storage batteries cover 10% of energy needs of electric and hybrid cars production.
It is easy to predict that the demand for lithium batteries will only grow
Lithium minerals – are used in the products of glass and ceramics. They contribute to energy saving in the production of aluminum, plastics and rubber products.
Ceramics is produced based on aluminate and lithium silicate.
A traditional application for lithium metal rods is degassing copper, rods of lithium metal, packed in copper cartridges are also used for oxidizing the impurities in a liquid copper bath. Lithium chloride and fluoride can be used as an additive to salt baths for dip brazing and open furnace soldering. The carbonate is used in welding powders and welding rod coatings.Lithium minerals – are used in the products of glass and ceramics. They contribute to energy saving in the production of aluminum, plastics and rubber products.
Lithium hydroxide is the most widely used thickener in multi-purpose greases for automotive and industrial greases.
Lithium hydroxide serves to produce lithium stearate, mainly lithium 12-hydroxy- stearate. Such high temperature resistant greases show good viscosity properties up to 200 °C and are widely used in motor vehicles, aircraft and heavy machinery. Their main advantage is water resistance and a wide range of working temperatures.
Lithium is widely used in other industries:
- Pharmaceuticals - used in the treatment for bi-polar disorder as well as in other pharmaceutical products.
- Building Industry - several lithium salts such as lithium carbonate, lithium sulfate and lithium hydroxide are used as additives for fast setting cements, floor screeds, joint sealing mortars, and cement based adhesives.
- Dyes and Pigments - lithium hydroxide finds application as an additive for dyestuffs as well as increasing the brilliance for specific pigments.
- Air Treatment - absorption medium for industrial refrigeration systems and for humidity control and drying systems.
- Electronic Industry - a very high purity lithium carbonate is manufactured for solid ion conductors and monocrystals used in the electronics industry.
The main reasons for investing in the Polokhivske lithium deposite are:
– the rapid growth in demand for two main lithium products: lithium carbonate (used in ceramics and glass products) and lithium hydroxide (used in production of battery charging for electronic devices);
– the rapid growth of profit of companies engaged in the development of lithium deposits against the backdrop of a rapidly growing demand for lithium product;
– the global race of world auto manufacturers for the production of electric vehicles will allow demand for lithium to increase;
– an inexpecsive labor force together with European location makes it convenient for European market and world market.
All this makes the Polokhivske lithium deposit one of the most attractive investment projects for the exctraction and processing of lithium.