According to the representative of the WTL company, lithium in industrial concentrations is presented in many deposits of hydromineral raw materials of the country.
The American company Westport Trading Europe Limited (WTL), together with partners, is ready to provide the technological, expert, and human potential for researching the presence of lithium in industrial concentrations in many deposits of hydromineral raw materials of Turkmenistan. The head of the branch of the company in Turkmenistan, Doctor of Technical Sciences Allaberdi Ilyasov told about it within the interview to the Centralasia.news on August 12.
— The Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries (TCOR) and the «Turkmendokunkhimiya» corporation may jointly become one of the producers of a promising industrial valuable product for lithium-ion batteries. Currently, our company, which has already completed several projects for the TCOR, is completing the construction of a delayed coking unit for processing oil waste. And here the niche of lithium sales could also be occupied by Turkmenistan, — said Ilyasov.
According to the professor, the rapid development of the production of electric vehicles in the coming years may cause a sharp increase in demand for lithium, which is the main component of lithium-ion batteries. Due to the massive introduction of electric vehicles, the global demand for lithium compounds will grow to 550 thousand tons by 2025.
— Today there is a trend in the introduction of lithium-ion batteries in the automotive industry instead of heavier and less convenient lead-acid batteries. Taking into account the projected growth in the number of electric vehicles (up to 20-25 million by 2021 and 50-70 million by 2025), the segment of car batteries in the overall structure of demand for metallurgical products will increase from 30 to 71% during this period. Considering traditional batteries, lithium-ion batteries charge faster, have more capacity, are more powerful, weigh less and last longer, — said the doctor of technical science.
It must be added that lithium in industrial concentrations is presented in the composition of many deposits of hydromineral raw materials of the country. The increased content of lithium on the surface and buried salines of the Garabogazgol Gulf in the west of the republic may be of particular practical interest.
— These types of raw materials, unlike others, are of sedimentary origin. In sedimentary salt deposits, lithium is concentrated either in salines or in the salt deposits themselves. And then you can create a system for the production, storage, and supply of lithium to send it to the international sales market, — noted Ilyasov.
Earlier the Centralasia.news reported that Turkmenistan has huge reserves of minerals, hydromineral, mineral and hydrocarbon resources. The republic occupies one of the leading places in the world in terms of the availability of mineral raw materials for the chemical industry.
