Finding
Lithium refining is concentrated in China because Australian spodumene is shipped there for conversion, and the price collapse after 2022 stalled most new conversion plants elsewhere
Australia mines more lithium than any other country, almost all of it as spodumene concentrate shipped to converters in Jiangxi and Sichuan - Ganfeng, Tianqi, Yahua, Chengxin and dozens of smaller plants - which roast and leach it into carbonate and hydroxide. Chile and Argentina produce carbonate directly from brine (SQM, Albemarle, Arcadium Lithium, now Rio Tinto). Zimbabwe's output is owned and converted mostly by Chinese companies.
Lithium carbonate prices fell about 85% from their late-2022 peak, and Western conversion projects suffered: Albemarle stopped expanding Kemerton and idled a train; Tianqi and IGO halted the second Kwinana train. In China, CATL suspended its Jianxiawo lepidolite mine in Yichun in August 2025 when its license lapsed and restarted it in July 2026. Tesla started the Tesla lithium refinery in Robstown in 2025 - the first large US spodumene-to-hydroxide plant, supplying the cathode plant at Giga Texas.
Hydroxide feeds high-nickel NMC and NCA cathodes; carbonate feeds LFP and most mid-nickel NMC. With LFP now about half of EV cells, carbonate demand is growing faster. Direct lithium extraction (DLE) from brine - Eramet in Argentina, Standard Lithium and Equinor in Arkansas, Vulcan in Germany - is the main new route outside China.
DLE is the main new route outside China, but it is not new: Livent's Fenix plant in Argentina, now Rio Tinto's, has used selective adsorption since 1998. Eramet's Centenario produced its first carbonate in December 2024, Rio Tinto approved the 60 kt Rincon DLE project the same month, and Standard Lithium and Equinor signed a Trafigura offtake for Arkansas Smackover brine in May 2026. The tables below list 40 operations, 12 of them in China or Chinese-owned, and 12 using DLE.
Brine and DLE
Brine and direct lithium extraction (DLE) operations
Salar brines in the Lithium Triangle and China, oilfield and geothermal brines in the US, Canada and Germany. Evaporation ponds take 12 to 24 months; DLE pulls lithium from brine in hours with adsorbents or ion exchange. Capacity is company nameplate, in kt of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), hydroxide (LiOH) or chloride (LiCl); blank means not yet sourced. Operating sites first.
| Operation (owner) | Location | Route | Product | Capacity | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sal de Oro (Hombre Muerto) (POSCO Holdings) | Salta, Argentina | evaporation | lithium hydroxide | 25 kt LiOH | operational | Phase 1 completed 2024; current rate not re-verified |
| Olaroz (Rio Tinto (formerly Allkem)) | Jujuy, Argentina | evaporation | lithium carbonate | operational | Operating; stage 2 ramping; not re-verified | |
| Fenix (Rio Tinto (formerly Livent, Arcadium Lithium)) | Catamarca, Argentina | DLE | lithium carbonate, lithium chloride | operational | Operating; expansion under way (plant profile) | |
| Salar de Atacama and La Negra plant (Albemarle) | Antofagasta, Chile | evaporation | lithium carbonate | operational | ||
| Salar de Atacama and Salar del Carmen plants (SQM) | Antofagasta, Chile | evaporation | lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide | operational | Operating; 2024 agreement with Codelco moves the Atacama lease into a Codelco-controlled joint venture from 2031 | |
| Qarhan Salt Lake (Qinghai Salt Lake Industry (Lanke Lithium)) | Qinghai, China | DLE | lithium carbonate | operational | Adsorption DLE on high-magnesium brine; China's largest brine producer. | |
| Qarhan lithium carbonate plant (Zangge Mining) | Qinghai, China | DLE | lithium carbonate | operational | Operating; Zijin Mining became controlling shareholder in 2025; not re-verified | |
| Silver Peak (Albemarle) | Nevada, USA | evaporation | lithium carbonate | operational | Operating; the only producing US lithium source | |
| Centenario-Ratones (Eramet) | Salta, Argentina | DLE | lithium carbonate | 24 kt LCE | ramping | First carbonate December 2024; ramping; phase 2 deferred |
| Mariana (Ganfeng Lithium) | Salta, Argentina | evaporation | lithium chloride | 20 kt LiCl | ramping | First production 2025; not re-verified |
| Cauchari-Olaroz (Lithium Argentina and Ganfeng Lithium (Minera Exar)) | Jujuy, Argentina | evaporation | lithium carbonate | 40 kt LCE | ramping | Started 2023; ramping toward nameplate |
| Tres Quebradas (3Q) (Zijin Mining) | Catamarca, Argentina | evaporation | lithium carbonate | 20 kt LCE | ramping | First carbonate 2025; not re-verified |
| Rincon (Rio Tinto) | Salta, Argentina | DLE | lithium carbonate | 60 kt LCE | under construction | Approved December 2024 (about $2.5 billion); first production targeted 2028 |
| Sal de Vida (Rio Tinto (formerly Arcadium Lithium)) | Catamarca, Argentina | evaporation | lithium carbonate | under construction | Under construction; schedule not re-verified | |
| Lionheart (Landau and Frankfurt-Hoechst) (Vulcan Energy) | Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, Germany | DLE | lithium hydroxide | 24 kt LiOH | under construction | Phase 1 financing and construction 2025-26; not re-verified |
| Uyuni DLE plants (YLB with the CBC consortium (CATL, Brunp, CMOC)) | Potosi, Bolivia | DLE | lithium carbonate | announced | Contract signed 2024; needs approval by Bolivia's legislature; status unverified | |
| Clearwater (E3 Lithium) | Alberta, Canada | DLE | lithium hydroxide | announced | Demonstration plant; commercial plant at study stage (plant profile) | |
| Hell's Kitchen (Controlled Thermal Resources) | California, USA | DLE | lithium hydroxide | announced | Development; GM and Stellantis offtakes (plant profile) | |
| Project ATLIS (EnergySource Minerals) | California, USA | DLE | lithium hydroxide | announced | Development at an operating geothermal plant | |
| Arkansas Lithium (ExxonMobil (Saltwerx)) | Arkansas, USA | DLE | lithium carbonate | announced | Drilling and DLE testing; first-production date not re-verified | |
| South West Arkansas Project (Standard Lithium and Equinor (Smackover Lithium)) | Arkansas, USA | DLE | lithium carbonate | 22. kt LCE | announced | DOE grant of $225 million; Trafigura offtake (May 2026); investment decision targeted 2026, first production 2029 (plant profile) |
Conversion plants
Hard-rock, clay and conversion plants
Converters that roast and leach spodumene or lepidolite concentrate into carbonate and hydroxide, plus integrated clay and mica projects. Most spodumene from Australia and Africa is still converted in Jiangxi and Sichuan.
| Operation (owner) | Location | Feedstock | Product | Capacity | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemerton hydroxide plant (Albemarle) | Western Australia, Australia | spodumene (Greenbushes) | lithium hydroxide | 50 kt LiOH | operational | Running below nameplate; trains 3 and 4 stopped in 2024; further cuts in 2025 not re-verified |
| Kwinana hydroxide plant (Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (Tianqi and IGO)) | Western Australia, Australia | spodumene (Greenbushes) | lithium hydroxide | 24 kt LiOH | operational | Train 1 has not reached nameplate; train 2 halted in 2024 |
| China conversion plants (Meishan, Qinzhou, Zhangjiagang) (Albemarle) | Sichuan, Guangxi, Jiangsu, China | spodumene | lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate | operational | Operating; Qinzhou ramp and utilization not re-verified | |
| Jianxiawo mine and Yichun conversion (CATL) | Jiangxi, China | lepidolite | lithium carbonate | operational | Suspended August 2025 when the mining license lapsed; restarted July 2026 after new permits | |
| Xinyu and Mahong conversion plants (Ganfeng Lithium) | Jiangxi, China | spodumene, lepidolite, brine salts | lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, lithium metal | operational | Largest converter by most measures; owns or buys from Mt Marion, Goulamina, Cauchari-Olaroz and Mariana. | |
| Shehong and Zhangjiagang conversion plants (Tianqi Lithium) | Sichuan and Jiangsu, China | spodumene (Greenbushes) | lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide | operational | ||
| Ya'an lithium plants (Yahua Group) | Sichuan, China | spodumene | lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate | operational | Hydroxide supplier to Tesla and LG Energy Solution. | |
| Gwangyang hydroxide plant (POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution) | South Jeolla, South Korea | spodumene (Pilgangoora) | lithium hydroxide | 43 kt LiOH | operational | (plant profile) |
| Bessemer City hydroxide plant (Rio Tinto (formerly Livent)) | North Carolina, USA | lithium chloride and carbonate from Argentina | lithium hydroxide | operational | (plant profile) | |
| Kwinana hydroxide refinery (Covalent Lithium (SQM and Wesfarmers)) | Western Australia, Australia | spodumene (Mt Holland) | lithium hydroxide | 50 kt LiOH | ramping | First hydroxide 2025; ramping; not re-verified |
| Kokkola hydroxide refinery and Keliber mines (Keliber (Sibanye-Stillwater)) | Central Ostrobothnia, Finland | spodumene (Keliber) | lithium hydroxide | 15 kt LiOH | ramping | Refinery commissioning 2025; mine and concentrator ramping; not re-verified |
| Bitterfeld-Wolfen refinery (AMG Lithium) | Saxony-Anhalt, Germany | technical-grade lithium salts | lithium hydroxide | 20 kt LiOH | ramping | Opened 2024; ramping |
| Robstown Lithium Refinery (Tesla) | Texas, USA | spodumene concentrate | lithium hydroxide | ramping | Start-up 2025; ramping (plant profile) | |
| Arcadia lithium sulfate plant (Huayou Cobalt (Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe)) | Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe | spodumene and petalite (Arcadia) | lithium sulfate (to China) | ramping | Sulfate plant commissioned 2025; not re-verified | |
| Becancour hydroxide plant (Rio Tinto (Nemaska Lithium)) | Quebec, Canada | spodumene (Whabouchi) | lithium hydroxide | 34 kt LiOH | under construction | Under construction; not re-verified (plant profile) |
| Thacker Pass (Lithium Americas (GM is a partner)) | Nevada, USA | claystone | lithium carbonate | 40 kt LCE | under construction | Under construction; output targeted late 2027 (plant profile) |
| Emili (Beauvoir mine and Montlucon conversion) (Imerys) | Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France | lithium mica granite | lithium hydroxide | 34 kt LiOH | announced | EU strategic project; production targeted 2030 |
| Rhyolite Ridge (ioneer) | Nevada, USA | lithium-boron sediment | lithium carbonate | announced | Permitted October 2024; investment decision unverified (plant profile) | |
| Tennessee Lithium (Elevra (formerly Piedmont Lithium)) | Tennessee, USA | spodumene concentrate | lithium hydroxide | 30 kt LiOH | paused | Permitted 2023; deferred (plant profile) |
Routes
Conversion routes
| Route | Steps | Main producers | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spodumene (hard rock) | Calcine alpha to beta spodumene, acid roast, leach, purify, crystallize | Chinese converters, Tesla, Albemarle, Tianqi-IGO | Energy- and reagent-intensive; residue disposal |
| Brine (evaporation) | Solar ponds concentrate lithium; remove Mg, B, sulfate; precipitate carbonate | SQM, Albemarle, Rio Tinto | Low cost; slow, water and land use |
| Brine (DLE) | Sorbent or ion-exchange extraction, then purification | Eramet, Standard Lithium, Vulcan, Chinese salt-lake producers | Faster; still scaling |
| Lepidolite | Roast and leach lithium mica | Yichun, Jiangxi producers including CATL | High cost; swing supply in China |
| Carbonate to hydroxide | Causticize carbonate with lime | Many converters | Adds a step for high-nickel customers |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- Lithium Refining
- Sources
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025; company disclosures; ElectronsX lithium dataset
- Updated
- October 2026