Focus: New lithium technology can help the world go green -- if it works

E3 Lithium

07/04/2022 19:22

By Ernest Scheyder
    April 7 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto, General Motors and even the
U.S. Energy Department are investing heavily in a crop of newer
technologies that could revolutionize the way lithium is
produced for electric vehicle batteries.
    Now those technologies just have to prove they work on a
commercial scale.
    If they do, miners will be able to boost global lithium
production with a footprint far smaller than open-pit mines and
evaporation ponds, which often are the size of multiple football
fields and unpopular with local communities.
    These so-called direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies
extract the white metal from brine using filters, membranes,
ceramic beads or other equipment that can typically be housed in
a small warehouse. But they often use lots of potable water and
electricity, and none have worked at commercial scale.
    Global automakers, mining companies and investors are
pouring millions of dollars into DLE companies, betting they can
supply the bulk of the lithium needed to power the electric
vehicle revolution.
    "It's such a game changer. There's huge opportunities," U.S.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told an energy conference
last month about DLE.
    Granholm's department has given Warren Buffett's Berkshire
Hathaway Inc  BRKa.N  a $15 million grant to test DLE technology
at California's Salton Sea, under which sit large geothermal
lithium deposits, and is considering funding other DLE projects.
    DLE technologies would challenge traditional miners such as
Albemarle Corp  ALB.N , the world's largest lithium producer,
and prospective miners such as Lithium Americas Corp  LAC.TO ,
ioneer Ltd  INR.AX  and Piedmont Lithium Inc  PLL.O .
    Albemarle is studying various DLE technologies but its
executives have said DLE likely works best when engineered for a
specific lithium deposit, which could curb enthusiasm.
    Large water usage by several types of DLE technologies has
raised eyebrows. The technology General Motors Co  GM.N  is
relying on to supply a "sizeable amount" of its lithium from the
Salton Sea region uses 10 tonnes of water for every tonne of
lithium produced.
    Privately held Lilac Solutions Inc, backed by BMW  BMWG.DE 
and Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, developed that
technology and said it could use a desalination plant to filter
brackish water to avoid using potable water.
    "If needed, we're willing to make those capital investments
to ensure we're not jeopardizing anyone's freshwater," said
Lilac CEO Dave Snydacker. "New technology is absolutely
essential for society to obtain the volumes of lithium that are
necessary for electric vehicles."
    Prominent short seller Hindenburg Research issued a 59-page
report in February questioning whether the DLE technology from
Standard Lithium Ltd  SLI.V  even works, despite backing for its
Arkansas project from chemical giants Koch Industries Inc and
Lanxess AG  LXSG.DE .
    "DLE is one of those technologies that's been a hope and a
prayer, Hail Mary for most, so that's fertile ground for stock
promoters," said Nathan Anderson of Hindenburg.
    Standard disputed the allegations in the report, which
erased more than $300 million in Standard's market value in one
day and stoked fears about the DLE movement. The stock has
partially recovered.
    
    'I'M A SKEPTIC'
    There are dozens of DLE-focused companies worldwide, some
with their own technologies, some with brine-rich acreage and
some with both.
    "Direct lithium extraction is becoming a hot subject," said
Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive of Schlumberger Inc  SLB.N ,
which is developing DLE technology with Panasonic Corp  6752.T .
It hopes to supply Tesla's  TSLA.O  Nevada Gigafactory, but has
acknowledged it must find a way to produce the metal without
potable water.
    U.S. and global ambitions to go green are at stake. At least
70% of the U.S. lithium deposits are held in brine reserves,
according to the Energy Department. Elsewhere, DLE offers a
chance to produce lithium in areas where open-pit mines face
strong opposition.
    In Germany, Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd  VUL.AX  aims to use
DLE the produce the metal for Renault SA  RENA.PA  and other
automakers from Germany's Black Forest.
    "As the EV transition accelerates, we can grow with that
market," said Horst Kreuter, Vulcan's CEO.
    Privately held Luna Lithium Ltd plans to use DLE in Nevada,
CEO Emily Hersh said. In Utah's Great Salt Lake, Compass
Minerals International Inc  CMP.N  has been trying to chose a
DLE technology for more than a year and hopes to make a decision
this summer.
    Galvanic Energy LLC aims to sell to sell the 100,000
brine-rich acres it controls in Arkansas if it finds a DLE
technology that works.
    "These companies promote and talk about what they can do,
but I'm a skeptic until proven otherwise," said Brent Wilson, a
former Chesapeake Energy Corp  CHK.O  geologist who formed
Galvanic in 2018. 
    Rio Tinto Ltd  RIO.AX  RIO.L  paid $825 million last
December for an Argentina DLE project, which it said "has the
potential to significantly increase lithium recoveries as
compared to solar evaporation ponds."
    Privately held Energy Exploration Technologies Inc, known as
EnergyX, has developed a DLE technology that uses membranes to
filter lithium, but in some cases, EnergyX's DLE membrane
technology may have to be paired with another DLE technology,
said CEO Teague Egan.
    "Our DLE membrane technology is very good, but DLE doesn't
have to mean one technology or another. I think that's what
people fail to see," said Egan, who aims to take EnergyX public
by mid-2023.
    EnergyX recently sent a pilot version of its technology to
Bolivia in the hopes of convincing La Paz to chose it to develop
the Uyuni salt flat, one of the world's largest lithium
deposits. 
    Lilac, as well as several Chinese and Russian companies, are
also competing for the Bolivian project, pointing to the rising
global attention paid to the industry.
    "DLE is not a magic wand, but it is a very valuable tool in
the toolkit," said Luna Lithium's Hersh. 

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Standard Lithium shares hit by short seller's technology
allegations     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2UE1JR
FOCUS-Automakers funding new tech aimed at making greener
lithium for EVs     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2R214K
BMW invests in lithium technology startup Lilac Solutions   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2R121V
Australia's Lake Resources teams up with clean tech firm Lilac
to develop Argentina lithium project     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2QN3J5
Renault locks in lithium supply from Vulcan Energy in five-year
deal     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P62WY
Stellantis in lithium supply deals with California, German firms
-sources      urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2OL1HC
GM shakes up lithium industry with California geothermal project
    urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2OD3AW
Rio Tinto to buy Argentinian lithium project for $825 mln   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2T62WC
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 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston; additional reporting
by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))