NeoLithica, in conjunction with its DLE and refining technology partners will economically produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from its extensive brine resources.

To meet today’s environmental initiatives of reducing carbon-intensity in operations, the use of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies will contribute to a more sustainable lithium supply relative to current evaporative brine and hard rock mining operations in terms of land use, water use, time to market, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The key criteria in developing a lithium industry in western Canada is acquiring proven technologies and processes that can rapidly and economically extract lithium from formation brines in an environmentally sustainable way. NeoLithica has met this criteria, and will implement innovative direct lithium extraction and refining systems and processes to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.

What is Direct Lithium Extraction?

Direct lithium extraction or DLE is an ion-exchange technology that utilizes a specialized molecular sieve or sorbent designed to be highly selective for only lithium ions in geothermal brines. DLE technology can quickly and efficiently reduce large volumes of relatively low-grade lithium-bearing brine into a high-grade lithium concentrate while removing all impurities in a single stage.

The lithium concentrate can then be refined into high-purity, battery-grade lithium compounds, such as lithium carbonate, for use in electric vehicle batteries. Batteries for EVs are the fastest growing market for lithium products, a global market segment that is a focus for NeoLithica.

The NeoLithica Technology Philosophy

NeoLithica’s commercial solution is based upon an important philosophy, that for direct lithium extraction of formation brines to succeed, the technology must be simple, reliable, effective and eco-friendly. The extraction process must occur virtually instantly, as hundreds of thousands of barrels of formation brine must be processed each day in order to produce merchantable amounts of lithium products each year.

NeoLithica has aligned itself with several Canadian and international technology firms that possess deep technical expertise in direct lithium extraction and refining processes. NeoLithica and its allies have the technical and project delivery expertise to design and operate commercial lithium extractive and battery-grade refining facilities in western Canada. Our partners possess a range of skills and diversity of experience across many industry sectors, and we are proud to support the development of the many innovations and technical solutions in this exciting space.