Current lithium production from brine mines, most found in South America, use evaporation ponds to concentrate lithium in a solution and precipitate contaminants as the water volume is reduced. This method requires relatively high lithium concentrations, arid environments to facilitate evaporation, and large tracts of land to hold brine ponds. The average extraction efficiency of lithium using evaporative extraction is between 40-60% and can take between 12-18 months start to finish. Once concentrated, the lithium concentrate can be sent for further purification at a nearby processing facility.

Not everywhere in the world lends itself to evaporative extraction methods. Subsurface brine resources in Canada, the United States, Europe, and even certain regions of South America will require new technologies to unlock their lithium resources.

The most promising technology emerging is Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE). It’s advantageous as it does not require the evaporation of water to concentrate lithium. It selectively pulls the lithium from the water and transfers it to a new solution while the lithium-barren source brine remains relatively unchanged. The DLE technologies, developed so far, have lithium recovery values up to 70 – 95% and, contrary to conventional evaporative techniques, are suitable for lower concentration brines, potentially as low as 60 mg/L.

To put it simply, DLE is a process that can remove small concentrations of lithium from a brine containing high concentrations of other ionic impurities. However, DLE is not just one process. Different companies are developing separate DLE methods for different resources based on the chemistry of the source brine.