Argosy has announced the successful production of initial battery-grade specification LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) from the stage 1 plant at its Rincon lithium project.

The company confirmed it has progressed plant works to the stage where it has completed efficient production of 30kg of LCE product. The product, which was tested in-house, recorded a Li₂CO₃ content value of 99.6%.

The product will be prepared for customer samples, as Argosy will provide them to international cathode and battery-makers for their own quality confirmation and testing.

This initial product, pending customer verification, will form the basis for Argosy moving towards finalising a preliminary off-take agreement for the stage 1 production.

Argosy managing director, Jerko Zuevela, said: "We are delighted at this significant milestone - to achieve such a result form our stage1 500tpa capacity plant is a remarkable success.

"We believe our chemical process pathway is efficient and scalable, and the success … bodes well for the continues development of stages 2 and 3 at the Rincon lithium project."

The company's primary focus and key stage 1 milestone remains to produce consistent battery-grade LCE product for on-going operations, while also confirming the chemical process is efficient, cost-effective and scalable for all development stages.