The demand for lithium exceeds current global production capacity, requiring a 480% increase from 345,000 to 2 million metric tonnes/year by 2030. To meet this massive demand, new and unconventional lithium resources must be found and developed as soon as possible.

The fastest and most efficient way of producing lithium is from brine using Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), yielding lithium product in hours instead of months. DLE technology is enabled by use of adsorption or ion exchange materials, selectively and directly extracting lithium from brine sources.

The challenge with DLE technology however is that every brine source is unique, having specific mineral content, characteristics, and consequently different economics of production. For a DLE technology to work, it must be matched and optimized to a specific brine source making DLE selection “brine source specific”. Production economics of a brine has many variables including water requirements, energy, CO2 emissions, etc. however lithium concentration in the raw feed brine has the biggest impact, as concentration dictates brine volumes needed and equipment sizing for the loading of lithium onto adsorption or ion exchange materials.  As such, the higher the lithium concentration, the lower the brine volume needed in loading lithium onto the adsorption or ion exchange materials and consequently, the smaller the pumping equipment required. In turn, the lower the concentration, the greater the brine volume needed and the bigger the pumping equipment required. Additionally, lithium brine content is an important factor in any Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) however the E in ESG is just as important requiring sustainable operations, less CO2 emissions, higher water recovery and reduction in energy requirements. FWTC delivers all of this within their Li-FO™ system, designed specifically for us in Pre & Post DLE lithium concentrating operations.