Last year, Goldman Sachs suggested DLE could pose a technological shift in lithium production akin to the role the innovation of shale oil played in expanding US oil and gas production.“Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) has the potential to significantly impact the lithium industry, with implementation on the extraction of lithium brines potentially revolutionary to production/capacity, timing, and environmental impacts/permitting,” its analysts said.
They predict an additional 70,000-140,000tpa could come from next generation DLE from 2028, boosting global lithium supplies by 8%.Eramet, better known as a nickel and manganese producer, reckons its tech is legit. It’s been tested over five years on site under real-life conditions, achieving a recovery rate of lithium contained in the brine of approximately 90%.“In comparison, if we were using the traditional natural evaporation process in Centenario, the recovery rate would be 40-50%,” the company said.The process is also much, much quicker than conventional evaporation, able to reduce the production lead-time to 1 week vs 12-18 months.
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