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Types of consumption

OF TOTAL CONSUMPTION

According to US Ministry of Energy research, the demand for lithium, that is used lithium-ion batteries in production will reach 28 000 tones till the end of 2030.

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

Glass and ceramic industry are the biggest lithium consumers.

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 exploration works at Polokhivka lithium deposit progress as planned

July 13, 2020. Despite of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukrlithium continues exploration works at Polokhivka lithium deposit. All works are carried out in accordance with strict sanitary recommendations of the Ukrainian government. Whenever possible, the works are being done remotely.

At the moment, the chemical analysis of the core samples continues at Bureau Veritas labs (Canada). More than 2000 samples have been analyzed. The lithium ore intersections have been confirmed in all the boreholes. The depth of the ore intervals in some of the boreholes reaches 150 meters, thus confirming excellent potential of the Polokhivka deposit.

On photos below: core samples of lithium ore with lithium dioxide content in some of the boreholes.

Happy Geologist’s Day!

April 5, 2020. Traditionally, since 1966, the first Sunday of April is celebrated by geologists of Ukraine as their professional holiday.

Geologists from Ukraine as well as from other countries were involved in the various stages of expoloration Polokhivske deposit undertaken by Ukrlithiummining LLC. The deposit was first discovered in the 1990s – by geologists of the Kirovgeology State Enterprise – and at the present time, its exploration is continued by the geologists of Geo-Kraton LLC.

Geologists and experts who participated in the exploration of the deposit at different times include:

– State Enterprise “Ukrainian Geological Company

– Magma LLC

– Department of Geology and Ecology of the Academy of Mining Sciences LLC

Drilling operations before 2018 were performed by domestic drilling companies, and in 2019-2020 – by the Turkish company Pozitif Sondaj. Laboratory and technological research in recent years has been performed by international analytical and technological agencies, such as BUREAU VERITAS (Canada), ALS (Ireland), SGS (Canada), ANZAPLAN (Germany).

Today, AMC (UK) provides expertise, advice and assessment for compliance with international standards. Important for the qualitative field study is the contribution of each project participant, the geological knowledge and experience of each contractor.

Careful organization and work planning is the key to ultimate success. Also of great importance are the enormous investments spent in the exploration and exploration of lithium. After all, lithium mineral products are raw materials that are required by many industries in the modern economy.

Polokhivske deposit, after its development, can provide domestic and foreign enterprises with thisvaluable raw material for decades. In addition, UkrLithiumMining can contribute hundreds of potential jobs thus bolstering socio-economic development of the region.

The next stage of Polokhivske lithium deposit exploration is underway

March 19, 2020. Ukrlithiummining continues with the laboratory probing and chemical analysis of the ore samples extracted from the drilled boreholes.

The ore samples are analyzed by Bureau Veritas (Canada) – one of the world’s top laboratories in the field of mineral resources analysis.

At the current stage, it is planned that 2000 ore samples will be examined by BV – Canada using advanced analytical methods in order to determine the content of 45 chemical elements within the samples.

The content number of the chemical elements (e.g. potassium, sodium, iron, aluminum) that affect the quality of the lithium concentrate will be determined.

Apart from that, the content of lead, zinc, arsenic, sulfur, uranium, selenium and other chemical elements will be determined to further evaluate the environmental impact of Polokhivske deposit.

This will allow to complete a detailed geological and ecological exploration of Polohivske deposit in accordance with international standards for mineral exploration.

In the future it is planned to carry out a mineralogical exploration of ores and to continue various technological studies.

Ukrlithiummining has completed drilling works at Polokhivske deposit in Ukraine

March 3, 2020. From November 28 till February 12 till 2020 Ukrlithiummining has completed the drilling works that were financed with the company’s own funds. The drilling was part of the additional 2020 geological exploration campaign of Polokhivske deposit in Ukraine.

In total – 8 boreholes have been drilled for the total of 3319 meters.

The drilling was done by Turkish drilling company Pozitif Sondaj according to the highest international standards.

Pozitif Sondaj has achieved 100% output of oriented core at each of the available ore intervals.

In each of the 8 boreholes a commercially viable lithium ore content was confirmed.

The preliminary results indicate a very high probability of successful commercial deployment of the Polokhivske deposit. Currently ongoing are the geological studies of the core material, probing as well as laboratory analysis which is going to be done in Canada.

The promising deposit of lithium in Ukraine is being prepared for development

Ukrlitivydobuvannya LLC, which is preparing to develop the Polohivske deposit of petalite lithium ores in the Malovyskivsky district of the Kirovograd region, continues the preparatory work on the construction of the mine on its territory.