World's Highest 'Zero-Carbon' Lithium Project Launches on Tibetan Plateau

A 10,000-tonne battery-grade lithium carbonate project, dedicated to the green integrated development and utilisation of Zabuye Salt Lake, has commenced operations in China's Tibet. This initiative marks the world's highest-altitude lithium carbonate project and is the first globally to be constructed with the objective of establishing a 'zero-carbon lithium plant'. It also represents China's inaugural integrated project for the comprehensive development and utilisation of both lithium and potassium resources.

Located in Pajang Township, Zhongba County, Shigatse City, at an altitude of 4,500 metres, the project is a key initiative under Tibet's 14th Five-Year Plan. Advanced and implemented by Tibet Mining, a subsidiary of China Baowu, the facility was designed, constructed, and will be operated by Donghua Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. (Donghua Company), a part of China National Chemical Engineering Corporation, under an 'EPC+O' (Engineering, Procurement, Construction + Operation) model. The project has successfully overcome the globally recognised challenges of developing salt lakes in high-altitude, frigid environments. It is intended to assist Tibet in establishing a modern industrial demonstration system for plateau regions and to foster advanced industrial clusters with national and international competitiveness. Its successful commissioning demonstrates the commitment of central state-owned enterprises in the petroleum and chemical sectors to actively serve national strategies and engage in industrial assistance to Tibet.

Project leader and Deputy Chief Engineer of Donghua Company, Pei Qiong, informed the BBC that the project utilises salt lake water as feedstock. By employing a green 'membrane separation + evaporation crystallisation' process, it achieves self-sustaining freshwater circulation and environmentally sound return of tail salt to the lake, attaining the green objectives of 'zero pollution and zero water consumption' with high resource utilisation efficiency. Concurrently, the project is integrated with the Tibet Zabuye integrated energy supply initiative advanced by Baowu Qingneng. This features the world's first 'photovoltaic + solar thermal + energy storage' isolated grid power station, ensuring a 100% green electricity supply for the operation. During construction, teams overcame significant challenges including extreme cold, oxygen deprivation, stringent ecological requirements, and complex technological processes. The project is now fully transitioning into its operational phase.

Zhang Jintao, Party Secretary and Chairman of Tibet Mining, stated that the next step involves accelerating the project's progress towards achieving full production capacity, compliance with standards, and operational efficiency. It is reported that upon reaching full production, the project will achieve an annual output of 12,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and 156,000 tonnes of high-quality potassium chloride, while also enriching strategic resources such as rubidium and caesium. This output is expected to enhance China's self-sufficiency in high-performance lithium battery raw materials, serve the national food security strategy, and strengthen the nation's capacity to reserve relevant strategic resources.

Pei Qiong affirmed that Donghua Company will fully leverage its integrated strengths in technology, management, and talent to provide comprehensive support for the project's overall operations and production safeguards.

Lithium, hailed as a green energy metal and 'white petroleum', is a core resource for the new energy industry. Currently, China's dependency on foreign imports for lithium resources exceeds 70%. The Tibetan region possesses abundant salt lake resources with substantial lithium reserves, with the Zabuye Salt Lake ranking as the world's third-largest and Asia's largest lithium-bearing salt lake. The Tibet Autonomous Region has designated salt lake lithium extraction as a strategic pillar industry for resource development. However, progress in exploiting these lithium resources has long been constrained by factors including the harsh climate, environmental considerations, technological limitations, and power shortages.