Direct Lithium Extraction

The Answer To Speeding Up Lithium Production?

Contents

1. Lithium Innovation

2. Direct Lithium Extraction

3. DLE - What Is It?

4. Electrodialysis

5. Lithium Ion-Exchange

6. Advantages of DLE

7. Disadvantages of DLE

8. Concluding Remarks

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The Bitesize Summary

• Current lithium extraction methods have a problem with the time taken to extract lithium from the ground. Direct lithium extraction could change this.

• Lithium can be separated from the DLE module of brine using various methods, including electrodialysis and lithium-ion exchange.

• DLE has many advantages, but some drawbacks of DLE still need to be considered.

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Lithium Innovation

Brine extraction of lithium poses some serious problems. Firstly, water stress in regions prone to drought. Secondly, it takes 12-18 months for lithium extraction via brine extraction. Even before mining operations begin, it can take at least five years to construct and set up. If it’s questionable whether we can extract lithium from the ground quickly enough to match demand, something has to change.

In a popular research piece from Goldman Sachs, this change has been documented in a process known as Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE).

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Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE)

The shale revolution implemented fracking to increase mining efficiencies for oil and natural gas and contributed to a second production boost. Hubbert’s Peak in crude oil had been temporarily delayed.

Figure 1 - https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Hubbert%27s_peak

The problem with lithium production isn’t that we don’t have enough, it's that we can’t get it out of the ground quickly enough. Typical brine extraction methods are time-consuming, and mining efficiencies are low. How does Direct Lithium Extraction work to address these issues? Will it have the same effect on lithium as the shale revolution did on U.S. oil production?

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DLE – What Is It?

In a typical brine pond, the brine is pumped to the surface. This solution of saltwater is then allowed to sit as the water naturally evaporates. This leaves behind the lithium salts we require.

In DLE, the brine is extracted from the basin and stored in a DLE module. The lithium molecule is then separated from the brine. This can be achieved using varying methods. The two we’ll explore are electrodialysis and lithium-ion exchange.