AMG Lithium opens first lithium refinery in Europe

For the construction of the factory, AMG estimates its own investment costs at about 140 million euros, with 5.5 million euros contributed from regional economic development programmes. In Bitterfeld, the small city in the state of Saxony-Anhalt where the factory was built, 80 jobs were created in the opening of the plant. By next year, AMG Lithium plans to have the factory up and running at full capacity, producing up to 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year.

“We are starting the ramp-up phase and ramping up the plant step by step,” Stefan Scherer, Managing Director of AMG Lithium, told the Frankfurt-based publication Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung.

For production in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, the lithium will be mined by AMG in Brazil, transported to Europe by ship and extensively purified and refined in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The aim is to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide with a high energy density. The first customers have also already been confirmed, with cathode and battery cell manufacturers in Hungary and Poland placing orders for the lithium hydroxide.

“With the refinery, we are a first mover and are making a decisive contribution to the security of supply of the critical raw material lithium for German and European industry,” explained Heinz Schimmelbusch, Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of AMG N.V.

So far, China, South America and Australia have been the leaders in the production of lithium, but now Europe is also on the map. Even if the processed raw material still comes from Brazil for the time being, AMG is also hoping for lithium production in Europe: the company is currently investigating whether lithium mining areas in Zinnwald in Germany or in Portugal are a possibility.

sueddeutsche.de, faz.net, ardmediathek.de (all in German)