China launches rare metal recovery line from lithium waste

China has launched the world’s first industrial production line capable of recovering rubidium and cesium from lithium production waste. Located in Jiangxi Province, the facility has an annual capacity of 500 tons.

Developed by the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with Ganfeng Lithium, the system utilizes extraction tower technology to continuously separate these rare metals from low-concentration lithium ore. This new method is significantly more efficient than traditional extraction baths, offering 15 times the productivity while reducing chemical usage by 40% and halving the required land area.

The process has successfully achieved recovery rates of over 98% for cesium and over 95% for rubidium, producing carbonates with a purity exceeding 99.9%. These metals are critical for high-tech sectors including quantum computing, aerospace, and clean energy. This technological advancement could significantly impact the global rare metal supply chain, as China holds massive reserves of rubidium and cesium oxides that were previously difficult to extract directly from specific lithium ores and brines.