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and at tbe other end, are the small startups:Charlie McGill won’t name the American oil companies that are beating a path to his laboratory in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton, but he says interest in his company ElectraLith is strong.“We get phone calls from Rio Tinto who have a large brine resource in Argentina, we get calls from the oil and gas majors in the US,” he says. “They are saying, ‘There’s loads of brine in our oil fields, how can we get those brines and that lithium out of our oil fields?’ ”Rio bought 30.8 per cent of the pre-revenue start-up last year in the hope its novel twist on “direct lithium extraction” or DLE can deliver a breakthrough.Earlier forms of DLE have been used by companies such as Livent in Argentina for close to 25 years; rather than evaporate the groundwater in ponds, traditional DLE methods strip lithium out of groundwater using chemical resins or absorption strips. Once the lithium is extracted, the groundwater can be returned underground.DLE shapes as a more socially acceptable method of lithium extraction than solar evaporation, where the groundwater is effectively wasted.Only time will tell if Rio’s Rincon punt in Argentina is successful, but Goldman Sachs analysts believe DLE is a “game changer” that could have a “revolutionary” impact on lithium supply.In a research note, the Goldman analysts said DLE would be a more efficient and cheaper way of extracting lithium from groundwater and could boost global lithium supply by a staggering 8 per cent. The Goldman analysts likened DLE’s potential to the shale revolution of 15 years ago, where innovations in horizontal drilling unlocked vast amounts of oil and gas trapped in rock, and completely rewrote the world’s understanding of how much fossil fuel was available for extraction.“Much like shale did for oil, DLE has the potential to significantly increase the supply of lithium from brine projects, nearly doubling lithium production [and] yield and improving project returns, though with the added bonus of offering sustainability benefits and ESG credentials,” said Goldman in the note published in April.The Goldman analysts hinted that lithium prices would be driven lower for longer by a flood of new supply, when they said DLE could “extend the size and duration of lithium market surpluses”.ElectraLith’s unique spin on DLE is built on the work of Professor Huanting Wang at Monash University. It uses a membrane to extract lithium from fluids using electro-dialysis.The end product is battery grade lithium hydroxide. Most DLE producers would need to send their product to a refinery to convert it into lithium hydroxide, so McGill refers to ElectraLith’s process as DLE-R to highlight the “refinery” step.“We believe ours is the smartest,” says McGill, of the many DLE methods. “It requires no water, no chemicals, it can run on solar and wind, whereas these other processes continue to require water and chemicals and power from the grid.”McGill reckons disruptive technologies such as the one being developed by ElectraLith will gradually make groundwater evaporation and hard rock mining uncompetitive. “These new technologies like DLE and DLE-R will continue to unlock reserves that are otherwise unviable today,” he says.“Lithium is one of the most common elements on the planet, the greatest reserves are in the ocean. The challenge will be if these DLE technologies work really well, those [hard rock] resources in WA will become less and less economic and more and more environmentally challenging to produce from. “That is where I think the world changes.”....Deutsche Bank’s US-based lithium, solar and clean tech analyst Corinne Blanchard has recently published a series of research notes on DLE, and is not as bullish on the method as her peers at Goldman Sachs.“We don’t view DLE as a game changer for the Lithium industry – yes it will be part of it and will help bring online some projects, but it will not unlock massive volumes as some could believe it. “It is evolving, but it is taking time. “DLE is not a ‘fits all’ – every brine project is different, with different brine concentration and impurities, which do impact the DLE process.”
and at tbe other end, are the small startups:
Charlie McGill won’t name the American oil companies that are beating a path to his laboratory in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton, but he says interest in his company ElectraLith is strong.
“We get phone calls from Rio Tinto who have a large brine resource in Argentina, we get calls from the oil and gas majors in the US,” he says. “They are saying, ‘There’s loads of brine in our oil fields, how can we get those brines and that lithium out of our oil fields?’ ”
Rio bought 30.8 per cent of the pre-revenue start-up last year in the hope its novel twist on “direct lithium extraction” or DLE can deliver a breakthrough.
Earlier forms of DLE have been used by companies such as Livent in Argentina for close to 25 years; rather than evaporate the groundwater in ponds, traditional DLE methods strip lithium out of groundwater using chemical resins or absorption strips. Once the lithium is extracted, the groundwater can be returned underground.
DLE shapes as a more socially acceptable method of lithium extraction than solar evaporation, where the groundwater is effectively wasted.
Only time will tell if Rio’s Rincon punt in Argentina is successful, but Goldman Sachs analysts believe DLE is a “game changer” that could have a “revolutionary” impact on lithium supply.
In a research note, the Goldman analysts said DLE would be a more efficient and cheaper way of extracting lithium from groundwater and could boost global lithium supply by a staggering 8 per cent. The Goldman analysts likened DLE’s potential to the shale revolution of 15 years ago, where innovations in horizontal drilling unlocked vast amounts of oil and gas trapped in rock, and completely rewrote the world’s understanding of how much fossil fuel was available for extraction.
“Much like shale did for oil, DLE has the potential to significantly increase the supply of lithium from brine projects, nearly doubling lithium production [and] yield and improving project returns, though with the added bonus of offering sustainability benefits and ESG credentials,” said Goldman in the note published in April.
The Goldman analysts hinted that lithium prices would be driven lower for longer by a flood of new supply, when they said DLE could “extend the size and duration of lithium market surpluses”.
ElectraLith’s unique spin on DLE is built on the work of Professor Huanting Wang at Monash University. It uses a membrane to extract lithium from fluids using electro-dialysis.
The end product is battery grade lithium hydroxide. Most DLE producers would need to send their product to a refinery to convert it into lithium hydroxide, so McGill refers to ElectraLith’s process as DLE-R to highlight the “refinery” step.
“We believe ours is the smartest,” says McGill, of the many DLE methods. “It requires no water, no chemicals, it can run on solar and wind, whereas these other processes continue to require water and chemicals and power from the grid.”
McGill reckons disruptive technologies such as the one being developed by ElectraLith will gradually make groundwater evaporation and hard rock mining uncompetitive. “These new technologies like DLE and DLE-R will continue to unlock reserves that are otherwise unviable today,” he says.
“Lithium is one of the most common elements on the planet, the greatest reserves are in the ocean. The challenge will be if these DLE technologies work really well, those [hard rock] resources in WA will become less and less economic and more and more environmentally challenging to produce from. “That is where I think the world changes.”
....
Deutsche Bank’s US-based lithium, solar and clean tech analyst Corinne Blanchard has recently published a series of research notes on DLE, and is not as bullish on the method as her peers at Goldman Sachs.
“We don’t view DLE as a game changer for the Lithium industry – yes it will be part of it and will help bring online some projects, but it will not unlock massive volumes as some could believe it. “It is evolving, but it is taking time. “DLE is not a ‘fits all’ – every brine project is different, with different brine concentration and impurities, which do impact the DLE process.”
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