[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":730},["ShallowReactive",2],{"story-article/view-from-the-ground-in-qinghai-why-recovery-breakthroughs-aren-t-lifting-lithium-output":3,"ticker-data":197},{"id":4,"uuid":5,"name":6,"slug":7,"full_slug":8,"content":9,"relatedArticles":195,"relatedVideos":196},212579729337896,"0d0d7572-b122-4d3a-841f-a32d936c01f6","View from the ground in Qinghai: Why recovery breakthroughs aren't lifting lithium output","view-from-the-ground-in-qinghai-why-recovery-breakthroughs-aren-t-lifting-lithium-output","article/view-from-the-ground-in-qinghai-why-recovery-breakthroughs-aren-t-lifting-lithium-output",{"_uid":10,"date":11,"tags":12,"editor":19,"content":29,"excerpt":151,"featured":152,"reporter":153,"component":173,"seo_title":174,"categories":175,"visibility":184,"data_vis_image":185,"featured_image":188,"seo_description":192,"side_panel_banner":94,"formattedDate":193,"formattedArticleDate":194},"76f31dbf-64be-40f3-8603-6fa0ea8d5d87","2026-08-24 00:00",[13,16],{"slug":14,"name":15},"china","China",{"slug":17,"name":18},"brine","Brine",[20],{"slug":21,"name":22,"content":23},"benjamin-roche","Benjamin Roche",{"job_title":24,"image":25,"bio":27,"linkedin":28},"Editor – Energy Transition Supply Chains",{"filename":26},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/800x800/66d6674fb8/benjamin-roche.png","Benjamin is Benchmark's Editor for Energy Transition Supply Chains, covering both upstream products like critical minerals and downstream products including energy storage systems and electric vehicles. He has previous experience covering trade flows, tariffs and the effects of geopolitics on supply chains.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminrochecontent/",{"type":30,"attrs":31,"content":33},"doc",{"backgroundColor":32},null,[34,76,84,96,101,113,121,143],{"type":35,"attrs":36,"content":37},"paragraph",{"textAlign":32},[38,46,58,63,71],{"text":39,"type":40,"marks":41},"Producers in ","text",[42],{"type":43,"attrs":44},"textStyle",{"color":45},"#000000",{"text":47,"type":40,"marks":48},"Qinghai's Qaidam Basin",[49,56],{"type":50,"attrs":51},"link",{"href":52,"uuid":53,"anchor":32,"target":54,"linktype":55},"/article/zangge-mining-restarts-lithium-mining-in-qinghai","227a2348-dbb0-4a08-93b4-6f1cb8aecd05","_blank","story",{"type":43,"attrs":57},{"color":45},{"text":59,"type":40,"marks":60}," have sharply lifted how much lithium they recover from ",[61],{"type":43,"attrs":62},{"color":45},{"text":17,"type":40,"marks":64},[65,69],{"type":50,"attrs":66},{"href":67,"uuid":68,"anchor":32,"target":54,"linktype":55},"/article/winter-storm-disruption-at-argentina-s-hombre-muerto-lithium-brine-site-may-mean-changes-to-permitting-regime","73f383a3-d117-4a5e-95d9-5a65def2fb10",{"type":43,"attrs":70},{"color":45},{"text":72,"type":40,"marks":73},", yet the province's output is not increasing as a result. The disconnect points to feedstock and water, rather than technology, as the real bottlenecks on China's largest lithium-brine region. Benchmark visited the basin in August, allowing us to verify our China salt-lake forecast against the work of producers on the ground.",[74],{"type":43,"attrs":75},{"color":45},{"type":35,"attrs":77,"content":78},{"textAlign":32},[79],{"text":80,"type":40,"marks":81},"Benchmark expects the region to produce ~169,000 tonnes LCE (pre-yield loss) in 2026, only around 60% of the province's roughly 280,000tpa nameplate. The biggest contributors are China Salt Lake Industry Group's lines at Qarhan, Huixin and Yiliping (around 56,000 tonnes combined), CITIC Guoan's West Taijinar operations (around 47,000), and Lanke's 40,000 tonne Qarhan project. Deposits such as Balunmahai and all of Da Qaidam produced nothing in 2026, sitting on care and maintenance amid brine-concentrate shortages, with only small volumes pencilled in for 2027.",[82],{"type":43,"attrs":83},{"color":45},{"type":85,"attrs":86},"blok",{"id":87,"body":88},"a5ba9d02-1688-4060-a5fc-c115bb50629c",[89],{"id":90,"_uid":91,"type":92,"component":93,"fixed_height":94,"use_fixed_height":95,"fixed_height_mobile":94,"fixed_height_tablet":94},"29990247","i-92514ba4-b7f1-4ba5-b83f-bae1d5c4ba71","visualisation","ContentFlourish","",false,{"type":35,"attrs":97,"content":98},{"textAlign":32},[99],{"text":100,"type":40},"In Qinghai, it is mostly adsorption technology that separates magnesium from lithium, where grades run at ~200 mg/L lithium and a magnesium-to-lithium ratio near 500:1, against roughly 2,000 mg/L at Chile's Atacama. A new, 40,000-tonne line at Yanhu Industry has lifted recovery rates to 70–80%, up from 40–50% on the older Lanke line, and Yanhu plans to more than double capacity to 200,000 tonnes by 2030, up from 98,000 tonnes today.",{"type":102,"attrs":103,"content":105},"heading",{"level":104,"textAlign":32},2,[106],{"text":107,"type":40,"marks":108},"Upstream constraints the real bottleneck",[109,111],{"type":43,"attrs":110},{"color":45},{"type":112},"bold",{"type":35,"attrs":114,"content":115},{"textAlign":32},[116],{"text":117,"type":40,"marks":118},"“Higher recovery is not translating into more tonnes,” explained Benchmark lithium product director Cameron Perks, “because it lifts lithium recovered per unit of brine while the binding constraints sit upstream. Output is gated by brine-concentrate and freshwater availability. In Benchmark's read, the recovery gains are, for now, only improving the economics of scarce feedstock rather than adding volume.”",[119],{"type":43,"attrs":120},{"color":45},{"type":35,"attrs":122,"content":123},{"textAlign":32},[124,129,138],{"text":125,"type":40,"marks":126},"Within China, that still leaves Qinghai comparatively well-placed. On Benchmark's cost curve, its brine flagships (Lanke, China Salt Lake, Zangge, Huixin) sit around ~$6,000 per tonne LCE on a C1 basis excluding byproduct credits – above Atacama's roughly $4,300-4,600, but well below ",[127],{"type":43,"attrs":128},{"color":45},{"text":130,"type":40,"marks":131},"Jiangxi",[132,136],{"type":50,"attrs":133},{"href":134,"uuid":135,"anchor":32,"target":54,"linktype":55},"/article/jianxiawo-is-back-yet-jiangxi-s-lithium-balance-holds-firm","982f0aa3-9ed9-431c-8768-8d8769f8a03b",{"type":43,"attrs":137},{"color":45},{"text":139,"type":40,"marks":140},". ",[141],{"type":43,"attrs":142},{"color":45},{"type":35,"attrs":144,"content":145},{"textAlign":32},[146],{"text":147,"type":40,"marks":148},"Qinghai is therefore China's cost-resilient domestic base, but its near-term growth is capped by feedstock and water, not know-how, so nameplate overstates what it will supply.",[149],{"type":43,"attrs":150},{"color":45},"Producers in Qinghai's Qaidam Basin have sharply lifted how much lithium they recover from brine, yet the province's output is not increasing as a result. The disconnect points to feedstock and water, rather than technology, as the real bottlenecks on China's largest lithium-brine region. Benchmark visited the basin in August, allowing us to verify our China salt-lake forecast against the work of producers on the ground.",true,[154,164],{"slug":155,"name":156,"content":157},"zoey-zuo","Zoey Zuo",{"job_title":158,"image":159,"bio":161,"linkedin":162,"markets_covered":163},"Senior Analyst - Lithium ",{"filename":160},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/8c56ffe68d/zoey-zuo.jpeg","Zoey is a Senior Analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in China, leading its China lithium research. She has extensive experience in lithium mine projects, contributing to Benchmark’s lithium cost, supply-demand and price forecast models. Previously, has participated in investment and financing projects for lithium mining ventures. She led lithium market analysis collaborate with Chinese universities on joint lithium research projects  when she's in Lithium Research Institute.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoey-zuo-615637151/","Lithium",{"slug":165,"name":166,"content":167},"cameron-perks","Cameron Perks",{"job_title":168,"image":169,"bio":171,"linkedin":172,"markets_covered":163},"Product Director - Lithium",{"filename":170},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/5504398139/cam-perks.png","Dr Cameron Perks is a leading global lithium expert and currently serves as Product Director for Lithium at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. With over a decade of experience in opaque mineral markets, he has led market strategy, pricing analysis, and bespoke consulting for clients ranging from junior explorers to OEMs and institutional investors. He was previously a consultant at TZMI, a geologist with the Geological Survey of NSW, and holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronperks/","article","Qinghai: Why recovery breakthroughs aren't lifting lithium output",[176,178,181],{"slug":177,"name":163},"lithium",{"slug":179,"name":180},"raw-materials","Raw Materials",{"slug":182,"name":183},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":32,"alt":32,"name":94,"focus":32,"title":32,"source":32,"filename":94,"copyright":32,"fieldtype":186,"meta_data":187},"asset",{},{"id":189,"alt":94,"name":94,"focus":94,"title":94,"source":94,"filename":190,"copyright":94,"fieldtype":186,"meta_data":191,"is_external_url":95},212582884970218,"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/5400x3600/5b2cf1ec60/lithium-brine.jpeg",{},"Producers in Qinghai's Qaidam Basin have sharply lifted how much lithium they recover from brine, yet the province's output is not increasing as a result.","Aug 24, 2026","24th 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