Two nascent lithium production schemes have hit material benchmarks, one in the US and one in the UK. While both remain in the early stages, the projects could provide the raw materials for reshored/friend-shored lithium-ion EV battery supply chains to be developed.
In the US, Smackover Lithium, a joint venture (JV) between US pre-production brine firm Standard Lithium and Norwegian state-controlled oil firm Equinor, has achieved what it calls one of the last technical milestones in the development of the Southwest Arkansas (SWA) project located in Lafayette and Columbia counties, AK. The JV, in partnership with technology provider KTS, successfully completed the final direct lithium extraction (DLE) de-risking step for the SWA project, marking “a critical step toward commercialisation”.
Over a three-month period, the partners operated an onsite DLE field-pilot plant that surpassed key performance criteria. Additionally, large-volume samples of concentrated and purified DLE product have been sent to third-party vendors.
These vendors will convert the DLE product into battery-quality lithium carbonate, while also being assessed as potential equipment suppliers for the commercial project. The resulting samples will play a key role in the qualification process with prospective off-take partners.
Smackover reports that “lithium recovery far exceeded the design criteria”. The DLE field-pilot plant recovered over 99pc of the lithium from brine sourced from the SWA project’s IPC-1 well, above the 95pc recovery used in the current design.
Average lithium content of the incoming brine was 427mg/l, while rejections for key contaminants were also within acceptable tolerance of the design criteria.
The field-pilot plant processed over 2,385bl (100,170 gallons) of brine from the IPC-1 well, completing over 497 DLE cycles. This data supplements the 28mn+ gallons of brine processed and the 11,206 cycles of DLE completed at Standard Lithium’s demonstration plant in El Dorado, AK, which has been operating since 2020.
The field-pilot plant has produced approximately 970 gallons (3,672l) of concentrated and purified lithium chloride solution (6pc LiCl). This is currently being sent off-site to three separate potential carbonate equipment vendors. The three vendors are expected to produce c.27kg of battery-quality lithium carbonate in total by May.
“This field-pilot is the final step in derisking DLE technology for Smackover brines; we are now ready to commercialise this technology,” says Standard Lithium COO Andy Robinson. “For 5 years, Standard Lithium has been operating a large-scale demonstration plant in Arkansas, and we have processed over 28mn gallons of real, live Smackover brine.
“This large demonstration plant has been invaluable in developing, streamlining and optimising the flowsheet. The field-pilot was the final step to demonstrate that we can reliably process brine from our SWA project, extract lithium in real-time, and convert to a battery-quality lithium carbonate product. Smackover Lithium has now completed the necessary testing of the flowsheet and can complete the FEED work and feasibility study,” Robinson adds.
UK first
On the other side of the pond and further from commercial production, would-be UK miner Cornish Lithium has nonetheless been granted planning permission to build what it terms the UK’s first commercial lithium production facility in Cornwall, in the far southwest of England. The county’s council granted planning consent for the facility to be established at its Cross Lanes lithium project, near Chacewater.
The facility, which will include a demonstration plant phase, will enable Cornish Lithium to implement multiple phases of testing and enhancements, towards a long-term aim of achieving full commercial production at the site.
Phase one of the project will involve drilling and testing two 2,000m-deep production-scale geothermal wells, which aim to build on successful exploration drilling at the site that was completed in 2023. Lithium-enriched geothermal waters will be extracted from the first well using DLE technology.
Once the lithium has been extracted, the water will then be returned underground via the second well. These production-scale wells will also allow the firm to assess the potential for harnessing heat from the same geothermal waters to provide heating for local homes and businesses.
In phase two, a temporary demonstration plant will be constructed and operated to validate the production of lithium compounds at the Cross Lanes site. This phase will evaluate the opportunity to provide samples for battery and electric car manufacturers. Following successful testing and evaluation, Cornish Lithium intends to construct a commercial plant at this location.
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Having drilled and tested an exploration borehole at Cross Lanes in 2023, the firm has already established that lithium-enriched geothermal waters circulate naturally within the permeable geological structures that underlie the area.
This, together with the progress made at its pilot plant facility at United Downs, where the Company has been evaluating numerous DLE technologies since 2021, affirms the feasibility of building a demonstration plant, and subject to further evaluation, a commercial-scale lithium processing facility at the Cross Lanes site. With planning consent now in place, work on the Cross Lanes lithium project is expected to begin this spring.
While current lithium prices make any new upstream developments challenging, the fact that these projects continue to make progress reflects the longer-term faith in demand for the key energy transition metal. And the location of the two schemes in the US and Europe could well prove advantageous in an increasingly polarised geopolitical environment could eventually prove to their significant advantage.
