FILE PHOTO: A portable and fully automated direct lithium extraction plant owned by International Battery Metals is seen in Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S., May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo
HOUSTON: International Battery Metals (Ibat) says it has launched its version of a novel type of lithium filtration technology, a move that could help usher in cheaper and faster supplies of the electric-vehicle (EV) battery metal.
At a site in rural Utah controlled by privately held US Magnesium, Ibat said last week it has started its own direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology and aims to ramp up production to an annual rate of nearly 5,000 tonnes within four weeks. Both companies declined to provide the current production rate.
The company, which developed its DLE plant to be portable, has been competing with Standard Lithium, SLB, Rio Tinto, Eramet and others to be first to commercial production, a goal sought by industry investors, analysts and customers.
Ibat said it considers last week’s launch to be the start of commercial DLE production. Industry consultants generally consider that mark reached at annual production levels of 5,000 tonnes or greater and at consistent quality levels.
The DLE industry is expected to grow within a decade into an industry with US$10bil in annual revenue by transforming the speed and efficiency of lithium production for EV manufacturers and others, analysts said, much the way that fracking and horizontal drilling helped boost US oil production.
Lithium has historically been produced with evaporation ponds, which are used to extract the metal from those brines, or open-pit mines, which are used to remove it from hard rock deposits. The intensive water use and physical footprint of those methods, as well as their long development and production times, sparked the hunt for a third option.
While DLE technologies vary, they are comparable to common household water softeners and aim to extract about 90% or more of the lithium from brines, compared to about 50% using ponds.
Ibat’s step coincides with a more than 80% drop in lithium prices in the past year, fuelling layoffs at industry leader Albemarle, DLE upstart Lake Resources and others. Still, Ibat plans to build more of its plants and market them for use across the globe.
Ibat’s strategy has focused on building relatively small plants.
While rivals have tried for more than a decade to commercialise DLE, their plans involved production volumes of 20,000 tonnes per year or more at permanent facilities often in remote regions where labour and supplies are difficult to procure.
Houston-based Ibat designed and built a 137m-long portable plant in Louisiana that it moved in 13 parts to the US Magnesium site, which draws brine from the Great Salt Lake. Ibat processes brines from a US Magnesium tailings waste facility.
Additional plants can be added and stacked like Lego bricks to boost production in 5,000-tonne-per-year increments. It takes 18 months to build an Ibat plant and reach production, the company said. — Reuters
