So your focus, Steve, is whether or not there is an excess of Lithium Sulfide production in the Processing phase of lithium extraction from lithium clay or is it more regarding that used in the production of the ASSBs? 

So part of the Extraction process, via acid leaching, is the actual production of lithium sulfide at the Processing Plant. The Battery Production plant for ASSBs is calculated to need 3,300 tons of this manufactued lithium sulfide per year, according to the Draft EIS.  The remainder produced at the Processing Plant will be shipped in 55 Gallon Drums for sale off site.

The 3,300 tons required yearly to produce ASSBs will be handled as follows ( from the Draft EIS ):

"The battery manufacturing process will start with mixing the lithium sulfide electrolyte material produced in the processing plant (Section 3.13) to create a slurry. The slurry will then be fed into a roll-to-roll coater, which deposits the material onto a metal substrate. The coated cathode and separator battery components will be combined with a lithium metal anode, produced at the process plant facilities (Section 3.12), via a lamination step to create a single layer of a battery cell. The layer will then be slit and stacked into the desired battery format. Finally, the cell will be packaged and tested prior to leaving the battery production complex."

I would like to see more definition in the description about what happens to all of the lithium sulfide electrolyte slurry, that may be key.  Is it all consumed in the production of the ASSBs or is there slurry left over and in excess of that required to produce ASSBs?  If so, then how is that excess slurry handled?

So, it boils down to 2 different quantities of lithium sulfide in question.  1) The lithium sulfide that is being sold to off campus markets in 55 Gallon Drums   2) the 3,300 tons/year required internally at the ASSB factory on campus to make ASSBs.  

The first group would not have a possibility for environmental impact since it is being removed from the site, unless there were leaks in transit or in temporary storage.  So, the focus of this situation appears, to me at least, to be on that second group:  the 3,300 tons of lithium sulfide used annually to make ASSBs. The lithium sulfide electrolyte slurry comes from this second group and is the amount that is needed at the ASSB plant to produce the batteries, but the question remains:  Is there any excess slurry?

Moving on to section 6.7

I think this section addresses this in general terms.  Not a great deal of specifics here and lithium sulfide is not mentioned specifically:

"During operations, LNC does not anticipate the occurrence of discharge from Project facilities. Project facilities containing process fluids are equipped with secondary containment structures that prevent the escape of process fluids, and seepage from the CTFS will be directed to lined reclaim ponds and pumped back into the processing circuit. Any runoff from mining facilities will be intercepted in sediment ponds and all potential run-on will be diverted or infiltrated before encountering mining facilities."

My guess is, and it is a guess, that lithium sulfide would be considered under the language that states:  "Project facilities containing process fluids are equipped with secondary containment structures that prevent the escape of process fluids", etc.   It refers to "Project facilities" in that paragraph and I would think that all of the "process fluids" used at the ASSB plant would still be part of "Project facilities". 

Doesn't mean I am correct in my interpretation on the one hand and on the other hand it would be nice if there was language in the Draft EIS that was specific to the processing at the ABBS factory and to the lithium sulfide to be used there in even more  specificity.  It is what it is, but the language in the final EIS may differ from what we see here.

Does the language: " lined reclaim ponds and pumped back into the processing circuit" provide an answer?  Perhaps this pumping back into the processing circuit is a way to insure that all the lithium sulfide electrolyte slurry is ultimately utilized, however I suspect the language in this instance is more revealing for the lithium extraction plant than it is for the ASSB plant.  

Not having any mining background whatsoever, I have to remember that my guess is in the category of a WAG and may be miles away from the truth.  Anyway, going through all of this does narrow my focus down to the battery plant utilization of the lithium sulfide electrolyte slurry... after that narrowing I am back to WAG time again.   Okiedo