Staff of Reuters 2 minutes Reuters (Reuters) – In premarket trading on Wednesday, Compass Minerals’ stock jumped nearly 20% after the mineral producer said that it had discovered 2.4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at its solar evaporation location in Utah. The news was made after market hours on Tuesday, as demand and prices for battery materials have risen in response to automakers’ aggressive electric vehicle production ambitions. The company, which makes salt, plant fertilizers, and magnesium chloride, announced that it has discovered an indicated lithium deposit in the Great Salt Lake’s ambient brine. Lithium is recovered in enormous quantities from brine or seawater. Lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide can be used in electric vehicle batteries, but the industry commonly employs lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), which comprises both. The business said it was looking for ways to extract the lithium, which it collects through its current solar evaporation process and can be accessed under existing leases and licenses, and that it was in late-stage talks with a direct lithium extraction technology vendor. At its active Ogden site, Compass estimates total combined indicated and inferred lithium resources of around 127,000 metric tons of LCE, according to an initial evaluation. An additional indicated lithium resource of roughly 2.32 million metric tons of LCE was also discovered during the study. The company stated that it aimed for an annual production capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 metric tons of LCE, with up to 65 percent of future output coming from brine previously collected from the Great Salt Lake. The company’s stock, which is currently trading at $17.19 before the bell, has lost 2% this year. Sahil Shaw contributed reporting from Bengaluru, and Amy Caren edited the piece. Daniel/n
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