Production of lithium chemicals and metallic lithium

A process for producing liquid lithium nitrate with solid lithium oxide therein, from a lithium nitrate starting material, the process comprising:

• thermally decomposing the lithium nitrate starting material by heating the lithium nitrate tarting material to a temperature that is 600° C. or greater such that a fraction of the lithium nitrate starting material decomposes to lithium oxide and a remaining fraction of the lithium nitrate starting material does not decompose to lithium oxide, wherein the fraction of lithium nitrate starting material that is thermally decomposed to lithium oxide is no more than 96% by weight of the lithium nitrate starting material, and thereby producing a resulting mixture comprising lithium nitrate and lithium oxide;
• and
• cooling the resulting mixture comprising lithium nitrate and lithium oxide to a temperature that is below 600° C. and that is above the melting temperature of the lithium oxide, thereby obtaining the liquid lithium nitrate with solid lithium oxide therein.