Impact assessment and compliance
You receiveImpact study or statement, management plan, follow-up of the file through to the certificate of compliance.
You gainA secured operating permit.
Activity 7
Environment
A mine and plant environmental footprint established from your operating data.
ForMines, plants, quarries, funders, investors
No certificate of compliance, no operation. No emissions inventory, no bank and no buyer. The tailings storage facility remains the primary risk of a mine.
LCA: life cycle assessment. Everything your mine or plant consumes and releases, from extraction to the product sold: carbon, water, energy, waste.
Our services
What you obtain
Mine and plant LCA
You receiveFootprint per tonne of ore and concentrate according to ISO 14040, emissions inventory, reduction levers.
You gainYou answer your banks and buyers, and you know where to reduce.
Tailings and closure
You receiveDesign and monitoring of facilities, water balances, rehabilitation and closure plans.
You gainTailings risk under control, closure prepared from the outset.
Why us
- The Pyramides Inter engineering office, with Maturis
- LCA connected to your data, with no double entry
- 50 mine sites compared on the same basis, from the Atacama to Greenbushes
Our data
50 mine sites compared on the same basis
We reviewed 46 lithium life cycle assessments and converted their results to the same unit. Deposits, countries and processes can at last be compared, figure against figure. This is the reference we use for your mine.
50mine sites
46LCA studies
280scenarios
3,338impact results
2,769inventory flows
The site map
What this changes for your mine
- The footprint is decided at the plantIn hard rock, concentrate leaves the mine at 2.0 kg CO₂ per kg LCE; the complete chain ends at 12.4.
- The deposit does not decide aloneAt Greenbushes, 12.4 when the plant runs on the grid, 34.5 on diesel. Same mine, different energy.
- Published figures divergeOf 21 sites studied several times, 15 show a variation of more than twofold. Only your data can decide.
- Africa remains to be measured25 lithium projects in 18 countries, no site LCA based on primary data.
By deposit type
Median and interquartile range, kg CO₂-eq per kg LCE
Geothermal energy10 values, 5 studies4.0
Salar brines82 values, 17 studies8.3
Oilfield brines3 values, 2 studies10.2
Hard rock, pegmatite39 values, 19 studies12.4
Clays and sediments11 values, 6 studies18.4
Spodumene concentrate, mine output12 values, 4 studies2.0
By country
Median, kg CO₂-eq per kg LCE
Chile24 values, 12 studies4.5
Canada6 values, 5 studies6.5
United States25 values, 13 studies10.2
Finland7 values, 5 studies11.4
Australia3 values, 2 studies12.4
China17 values, 7 studies14.2
Argentina28 values, 7 studies14.7
Australia, refined in China18 values, 7 studies17.5
Germany3 values, 3 studies23.1
Bolivia3 values, 3 studies35.7
Site by site
From the lowest to the highest published value, kg CO₂-eq per kg LCE
Salar de AtacamaChile · 10 studies2.0 à 8.3
GreenbushesAustralia · 5 studies2.3 à 34.5
Salton SeaUnited States · 5 studies0.5 à 34.4
Chaerhan-QarhanChina · 5 studies8.6 à 39.1
Cauchari-OlarozArgentina · 5 studies5.8 à 19.4
Hombre MuertoArgentina · 4 studies7.9 à 13.4
KeliberFinland · 4 studies6.2 à 11.5
Thacker PassUnited States · 3 studies11.8 à 22.5
Mt CattlinAustralia · 2 studies10.5 à 14.1
WhabouchiCanada · 2 studies5.0 à 11.0
Salar de UyuniBolivia · 2 studies35.7 à 82.0
Beyond carbon
Water consumed
m³ per kg LCESalar brines0.09
Hard rock0.14
Clays0.18
Solid waste
kg per kg LCESalar brines4.4
Hard rock12.7
Clays276
Energy
MJ per kg LCESolar evaporation20
Hard rock, acid roasting112
Direct extraction186
Reagents
kg per kg LCESolar evaporation3.0
Hard rock, acid roasting4.7
Clays, direct leaching28
The complete figures
Systematic review Y. T. Chegang Kwebou et al., McGill University, forthcoming. Medians of all published and harmonised values, cradle to chemical product.
Our resources
How we do it
A tool built for African mines
African mines are largely overlooked in life cycle assessments: our review showed that none of the 25 lithium projects identified in 18 countries has a site LCA based on primary data. We therefore built this tool from our studies and the database we collected, so that the continent has its own means of assessment.
- Lithium, gold, copper, iron, bauxite: the method applies to any mine and any plant
- Connected to Pi Tracking, no double entry, up to date with your production
- And for batteries: state of health, cycles and temperature show how they perform in Africa
- Our database46 studies, 280 scenarios, 3,338 impact results, reviewed and normalised to the same unit.
- Your operating dataTonnages, grades, diesel, electricity, explosives, reagents, water, waste rock: by questionnaire, or directly from Pi Tracking.
- Your site modelPi calculates the footprint per tonne of ore and concentrate, with the coverage and quality of each data point.
- The comparisonYour result against the literature and comparable sites, with the uncertainty of each data point.
- The leversThe items with the greatest weight, the effect of a change in energy or grade, and the report ready for your banks and buyers.
Reference textPi Tracking LCA module, OpenLCA, EcoInvent
- ISO 14040/14044, inventory × factors, uncertainty, quality
- GHG report: GHG Protocol, ISO 14064-1
- Per tonne of ore, per tonne of concentrate, per kg of gold produced
- A missing factor remains flagged: no value is invented
- JSON, CSV export
Impact assessments and compliance
Environmental and social impact assessments, management plans, compliance monitoring, with Maturis and Pyramides Inter.
- Environmental audits and management plans
- Consultations and commitment monitoring
Tailings storage facilities and water management
Design and monitoring of tailings storage facilities, dams, water balances, water quality, geotechnical instrumentation. Tailings are a mine's foremost risk: they are managed from the process design stage.
- 12 dams referenced by Pyramides Inter
- Tailings tracking in Pi: tonnages, destination, assays
Waste management
Cells, batteries, plant and laboratory waste: sorting, safe storage, waste tracking notes, authorised disposal routes. Each waste batch is traced in Pi to its destination.
In 3D
Closure and rehabilitation
Closure plans, site rehabilitation, long-term monitoring: closure is prepared from opening.
With you
How to work with us
- Let's discuss your needsA call, a site visit or a sample.
- We offerScope, schedule and price, in writing.
- We install and we trainOur systems on your site, your teams trained to use them.
- We stay by your sideFollow-up, support and maintenance, for as long as you wish.
Short term
Impact assessment and LCA of your mine or plant.
Long term
Tailings, water and footprint tracking in Pi, teams trained in data entry.
With
