ORE has not stopped concentrating on producing battery grade Lithium Carbonate. It continues to produce what its customers are asking for, which is a mix of Industrial and Battery grade product.
Yes the price of battery grade is a little higher, but the cost of production is also greater since the industrial grade Lithium Carbonate produced by the primary processing circuit at Olaroz needs to be processed through the (separate) purification circuit. It is reasonable to assume that the difference in market price of industrial and battery-grade Lithium Carbonate is much the same as Olaroz' cost of production differential.
It is highly likely that most of ORE's customers for industrial grade Lithium Carbonate are converting it to Lithium Hydroxide, a process that does not require battery-grade feedstock.
Consistent with this, this, ORE's planned expansion for Olaroz will only produce industrial grade Lithium Carbonate, with much of the production destined for the planned Lithium Hydroxide plant co-owned with Toyota. So after this, ORE will be able to produce both Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide at battery grade, as well as industrial grade Lithium Carbonate that its customers are asking for,
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