Factbox: DLE companies racing to reshape global lithium production

E3 Lithium

16/06/2023 12:00

By Ernest Scheyder
       June 16 (Reuters) - Lithium, the metal used to make
electric vehicle batteries, has historically been produced using
water-intensive evaporation ponds or open-pit mines. But a fleet
of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies is on the verge
of upending that.
    Many of these DLE technologies are so far unproven without
the use of evaporation ponds, sparking a race for one of them to
start commercially producing the metal without those ponds. 
    Here are players in the global DLE space: 
    
    Livent  LTHM.N : 
    Livent operates an Argentina facility that blends
evaporation ponds with DLE. It is set to merge with rival Allkem
 AKE.AX  by the end of the year.
    
    Sunresin  300487.SZ : 
    Sunresin operates Chinese facilities that combine
evaporation ponds with DLE. The company, which also makes
equipment that filters apple juice, says it is poised to soon
launch pure-play DLE projects.
    
    Eramet  ERMT.PA :
    The company, which counts the French government as a major
shareholder, is developing a $1.7 billion DLE project in
Argentina with China's Tsingshan  600103.SS  that is slated to
start producing 24,000 tonnes of lithium annually by next year.
Eramet spent more than a decade developing its own DLE
technology. "We believe it's superior to anything else," said
Eramet Chief Development Officer Geoff Streeton.
    
    International Battery Metals  IBAT.CD : 
    The company's executive chairman, John Burba, helped invent
a lithium adsorbent in the 1970s upon which several DLE
companies have based their operations. IBAT built a portable DLE
plant capable of producing 5,000 tonnes of lithium annually that
it hopes to have in production by December.
    
    EnergySource Minerals:
    The privately-held company, which counts SLB  SLB.N  as an
investor, is seeking financing for a California DLE project.
Ford  F.N  signed an agreement last month to buy lithium from
the company starting in 2025. EnergySource also licenses its DLE
technology.  
    
    EnergyX:
    The privately-held company has deployed DLE demonstration
plants to California, Arkansas and Utah, as well as Chile and
Argentina. It is aiming for commercial production by the end of
2025. General Motors  GM.N  is an investor.
    
    Rio Tinto  RIO.AX :
    The mining giant paid $825 million last year for an
Argentina lithium project that it expects to be producing 3,000
metric tons annually by next year. 
    
    Albemarle  ALB.N : 
    The world's largest lithium producer, with operations in
Chile, Australia, China and the United States, has said it is
investigating DLE.
    
    SQM  SQMA.SN : 
    The world's second-largest lithium producer, with operations
in Chile, Australia and China, is facing pressure from Santiago
to shift its operations to DLE.
        
    Compass Minerals International  CMP.N : 
    The company, whose largest shareholder is Koch Industries,
licensed EnergySource's DLE technology to filter lithium from
Utah's Great Salt Lake starting in 2025 for Ford and LG Energy
 373220.KS .
    
    Standard Lithium  SLI.V : 
    Standard plans to filter lithium from the brine wastewater
of a Lanxess  LXSG.DE  bromine facility in Arkansas. That
wastewater is currently reinjected into the Smackover Formation,
which stretches from Florida to Texas. Standard, which counts
Koch as its largest shareholder, has not said when it could
reach commercial production.
    
    Lilac Solutions:
    The privately-held company is building a DLE project in
Argentina with Lake Resources  LKE.AX . Both said in April they
had produced 2.5 metric tons of lithium. No date for commercial
production.
    Elsewhere, Lilac is "currently advancing engineering for
commercial-scale production at multiple large projects around
the world," said CEO Dave Snydacker. BMW  BMWG.DE  and
Breakthrough Energy Ventures are investors.    
    
    Summit Nanotech:
    The privately-held company is developing DLE projects in
South America and recently opened a new office and test center
in Santiago. BHP  BHP.AX  is an investor.
    
    E3 Lithium  ETL.V  
    The company, which is developing a DLE project in Alberta
with support from Exxon Mobil  XOM.N  subsidiary Imperial Oil
 IMO.TO , aims for commercial production by 2026.
   
    IBC Advanced Technologies:
    The privately-held company developed a specialized version
of DLE known as direct lithium to product that can extract
lithium from brine and convert it to lithium hydroxide, removing
a processing step. IBC said this week that its technology will
be used to deliver lithium by 2025 to Panasonic  6752.T  and
Chori  8014.T .
    
    Controlled Thermal Resources:
    The privately-held company is developing a DLE project in
California with support from GM and Stellantis  STLAM.MI .
Controlled Thermal, which stopped using Lilac's DLE technology
and hired Koch for technical support, aims to be producing
25,000 metric tons annually in 2025. The company said on Friday
it chose filtration company Aquatech to help it produce lithium
hydroxide.

    Occidental Petroleum  OXY.N : 
    The oil producer controls DLE patents developed by the
now-defunct Simbol Materials and is developing a DLE technology.
No timeline for commercial production. 
    
    Vulcan Energy Resources  VUL.AX : 
    Vulcan is developing a DLE project in Germany's Black Forest
and aims to be supplying lithium to Stellantis by 2026. 
    
    Berkshire Hathaway  BRKa.N :
    Warren Buffett's company has experienced technical
challenges developing a DLE project in California's Salton Sea.
Construction of a commercial plant could start next year,
Berkshire has said, depending on test results.

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INSIGHT-Inside the race to remake lithium extraction for EV
batteries     NL1N380333 
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 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Claudia Parsons)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))