High-Quality ‘Green Lithium’
For three years, we have tested and improved a ‘green and sustainable’ purification route that produces high-quality lithium for electric vehicle batteries. This high-purity processing technology allows us to produce environmentally sustainable ‘green lithium’.
100% Green Power
Our operations at Grota do Cirilo use 100% hydropower delivered by the Irapé hydroelectric power plant located 50km from the mine.
100% Water Recycling
We recycle 100% of the water used at Grota do Cirilo (while losing 10% to evaporation), meaning we only draw water minimally from the nearby Jequitinhonha River.
Zero Tailings Waste
Thanks to our use of proprietary dense media separation (DMS) technology, we can dry stack tailings from the production process, rather than using a tailings dam. They do not contain hazardous chemicals, which reduces the environmental impact of the tailings and enables tailings to be used by other industries – resulting in no waste.
Environmental Protection by Design
We built the entire design of our Phase 1 production at Grota do Cirilo around the need to preserve the Piaui River. So, rather than creating a Super Pit in line with standard practice, the mine has a North Pit and a South Pit – conserving the natural habitat of the riverbed for daily use by the local community.
Supporting Reforestation
Alongside our measures to reduce the environmental impact of the mine, we operate an extensive reforestation program that helps to compensate for those emissions we cannot yet avoid. This will mean we will replant trees from across 5,000 species while also recovering more than 1,200 trees from degraded areas.
Meeting Sustainable Development Goals
Forming ‘the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all’, the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are important for every business to follow. That is why we have mapped our strategies, activities and standards to those goals. Highlighted above are the four that best align with our environmental impact policies.