The Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT) share price is starting Friday morning with a bang following a positive announcement from the lithium company.
At the time of writing, Lithium Australia shares are up 10.34% to 16 cents apiece. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.3% to 7,882 points.
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What did Lithium Australia announce?
Investors appear to be excited about the company's latest developments, sending Lithium Australia shares to a new 8-month high.
According to its release, Lithium revealed it has filed two new international patent applications to the Australia Patent Office.
Submitted under the Patent Corporation Treaty, the applications related to Lithium Australia's 90% owned subsidiary, Envirostream Australia's technology. The patent refers to the company's recycling process for lithium-ion batteries and the recovery of electrode materials.
The first patent titled, "Process for recovering values from batteries", describes the selective separation process for recovering electrode material from lithium-ion batteries. This includes mixed metal dust that comprises both cathode and anode powders.
The next patent, titled "Process for recovering values from process liquors" explains the process for selective recovery of mixed metal sulphates. This is performed when the leaching of mixed metal material is recovered from lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium Australia managing director, Adrian Griffin commented:
The Lithium Australia group is acutely aware of its environmental footprint and that of the society within which we live and operate. We can no longer afford to discard any products to landfill, let alone those that have a high embedded energy footprint, contain critical materials, or – in the case of lithium-ion batteries – both.
We have developed unique processes to deal with battery waste and invite like-minded industry participants to work with us in improving the sustainability of our consumer-based society.
Lithium Australia share price summary
Over the last 12 months, Lithium Australia shares have accelerated by more than 170%, with year-to-date gains above 140%. The company's share price reached a 52-week high of 21 cents in January 2021.
Based on today's price, Lithium Australia has a market capitalisation of roughly $153.9 million, with 961 million shares on issue.
