Greener Lithium Production: a Commercial First!

A Houston-based company in Texas, the United States, became the first to commercially produce lithium using a novel type of filtration technology, paving the way for cheaper and faster supplies of electric-vehicle (EV) battery metals.

“This is all about boosting the global supply of lithium,” says John Burba, International Battery Metals (IBAT) chairman. “We feel like we’ve hit at a critical time for this industry.”

IBAT developed its version of direct lithium extraction – or DLE – technology to be portable, a first in the industry. Its 137-meter-long portable plant was moved to 13 parts of the US Magnesium site, which draws brine from Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Each portable plant takes 18 months and costs between $50 and $60 million to build. The fastest-moving lithium processing company can produce nearly 5,000 metric tons per year. The DLE technology is expected to grow into an industry with $10 billion in annual revenue within a decade because it is expected to transform the speed and efficiency of lithium production for EV manufacturers.