Last February, the U.S. Department of Energy announced plans to provide $2.91 billion toward advancing domestic battery production and securing domestic critical mineral supply, as directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to support the growing electric vehicle and energy storage demand. Funding opportunities are given to researchers and developers of cutting-edge mineral extraction technologies, and one particular technology that seems like a promising alternative to conventional mining is direct lithium extraction (DLE). Conceptually, direct lithium extraction is a straightforward process, but its application for large-scale operations is still relatively unproven. Challenged by economic and technical uncertainties, large-scale direct lithium extraction projects have yet to be deployed, but advancements in small, low-grade brine, geothermal, and petroleum brine projects are narrowing the gap between conception and commercialization.
Adsorption, ion exchange, and solvent extraction are the prevailing methods used to directly extract lithium from brines. The adsorption process uses porous materials that bond with lithium chloride molecules. Ion-exchange technologies separate lithium ions from brine using highly selective sorbents, and solvent extraction removes either lithium chloride molecules or lithium ions from low-grade brines. Against conventional lithium brine processing, these DLE technologies present many advantages but are still challenged by some factors (Exhibit 1).
Exhibit 1: Advantages and disadvantages of direct lithium extraction compared to conventional lithium brine processing (Source: Seeking Alpha)
Standard Lithium is a lithium development company in the United States with a patent-pending ion-exchange DLE technology known as LiSTR, which uses a solid ceramic absorbent material to selectively pull lithium ions from tail brine to produce a high-purity lithium chloride solution for further processing. Then, lithium carbonate is produced using Standard Lithium’s proprietary SiFT technology, a continuous crystalization process powered by artificial intelligence. The company has several lithium brine projects in California and Arkansas, but its flagship project, Lanxess Smackover, is a joint venture with LANXESS AG, a German specialty chemicals company.
Last March, Schlumberger New Energy unveiled the development of a lithium extraction pilot plant through its new venture, NeoLith Energy. The project is part of an agreement with Pure Energy Minerals to develop its lithium brine property in Nevada. The location of the pilot plant will be strategically located near the Tesla Giga Factory, which receives batteries from Panasonic. Panasonic Energy of North America, a division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, and Schlumberger New Energy also announced a collaboration agreement last year to validate and optimize the direct lithium extraction process for the Nevada-based pilot plant. Schlumberger New Energy invested over $15 million towards the development of this DLE process and expects the operation of the pilot plant to require a similar amount of investment.
It is evident that direct lithium extraction has promising potential to increase economic competitiveness, national security, and energy independence with its strong interest from investors and the U.S. government. It is an innovative method of providing commercial-grade lithium that simultaneously addresses environmental concerns and lowers lithium production costs in the long run.
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By Jacqueline Unzueta
