The Hunt For Ever More Lithium
With the rise of EVs, the demand for lithium-ion batteries exploded, as did the need for lithium resources. This demand is expected to keep growing exponentially, with only the steepness of this curve in question, depending on the speed of EV adoption.
Source: Statista
This has caused problems, as lithium is difficult to extract. In the past, this has caused wild price swings, causing input costs to fluctuate strongly for battery and EV manufacturers.
Source: Carbon Credit
Currently, lithium is mostly produced from hard rock, or salty water brines, both requiring a lot of energy or water consumption.
An alternative would be to produce lithium from geothermal brines, the water found in underground deposits. This has however been tricky from a technical point of view.
This might have changed thanks to the work of researchers at Rice University, who published their results in the prestigious publication PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) under the title “Three-chamber electrochemical reactor for selective lithium extraction from brine”.
Where Does Lithium Come From?
Lithium makes up only 0.002% of the Earth’s crust and is rarely found in concentrated deposits that are commercially viable.
Currently, most of the world’s batteries and refined lithium come from China. The mineral itself is primarily mined in the “lithium triangle” (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia), China, and Australia.
Source: Progress in Natural Science
This has led other countries to look for alternative sources, with underground brines (salty water) a good candidate. For example, it was recently discovered that Arkansas might contain more lithium resources in brine present next to oil & gas deposits than all the previously known lithium reserves in the USA.
These brines often contain a relatively high concentration of lithium. The issue is how to extract the lithium from these brines, as they usually contain a complex mix of other minerals as well.
Because these brines are highly concentrated, direct lithium extraction (DLE) is being considered as an alternative to the large evaporation pool used until now.
Source: Euronews
Direct Lithium Extraction
Direct extraction targets the lithium atoms through a selective extraction process. This can be achieved through a few different methods:
- Adsorption-based DLE, where the lithium is physically absorbed by a dedicated material.
- Ion Exchange-Based DLE, where the lithium is exchanged against cations (positive ions).
- Solvent Extraction-Based DLE, where an organic liquid solvent absorbs and dissolves the lithium away from the brine.
Source: Lithium Harvest
Electrochemical Lithium Extraction
Another option that has not been explored much is electrochemical lithium extraction. The idea is to use a powerful electric current to separate the lithium from the other minerals in the brine.
As we said, these brines contain many other minerals with similar ionic sizes and charges including magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium. This makes any method based on ion properties only difficult, as you need to do it many times to fully select only the lithium.
The alternative could be using electrical current instead, but the brines often contain a lot of chloride ions which can turn into extremely toxic chlorine gas during traditional electrochemical processes to isolate the lithium.
Chlorine gas, also known as halogen, was notably used as a combat gas during World War 1. However, the problem of its production during electrochemical lithium extraction has so far blocked this technology from being commercially used.
Using Battery Technology For Lithium Extraction
Paradoxically, innovations in battery technology might help solve the issue of lithium extraction for the very same batteries. The Rice University researchers used a newly developed lithium-ion conductive glass ceramic (LICGC) membrane, a technology often used in batteries but never before applied to lithium processing. LICGC is a solid electrolyte material that is a good candidate for the building of solid-state batteries.
The membrane is very effective in selectively letting only lithium ions pass through while holding back ions of the other chemicals.
3-Chambers Electrochemical Reactor
Traditional electrochemical reactors for lithium extraction are designed around 2 chambers: the first one contains the targeted brine, and the second contains the extracted lithium.
By adding the LICGC membrane in the middle, the researchers created an intermediary third chamber, where mostly only lithium can pass through the LICGC.
“Our field has long struggled with the inefficiencies and environmental impacts of lithium extraction. This reactor is a testament to the power of combining fundamental science with engineering ingenuity to solve real-world problems.”
Haotian Wang, Rice associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
During the tests performed by the researchers, the lithium purity rate achieved 97.5%. Meanwhile, the concentrations of Na+ K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ were so low that they fell below the detection limit of the researchers instruments.
More importantly, it is especially efficient at keeping away the chloride ions, dramatically reducing the production of chlorine gas. Instead of consuming a lot of power and creating harmful gases, only 6.4% of the total power reacted with chlorine ions in the new design.
Still, Some Issues Need Fix
During their testing, the researchers noticed a sodium ion build-up on the LICGC membrane. If left unchecked, this build-up could affect the efficiency of the reactor over time. So until this is solved, the 3-chamber electrochemical reactor will not be ready for commercial-scale deployment.
One of the possibilities considered to solve the problem would be to pre-process the brine to reduce the sodium content.
Another one would be to find specialized membrane coatings to keep the sodium ions from attaching in the first place.
Investing In Lithium And Battery Tech
Lithium-ion batteries have already changed the world several times, from allowing people to carry advanced electronics everywhere to powering cars with electricity only.
They might still do so again, or other types of batteries, by allowing for a 100% renewable power grid or allowing for airplane electrification when reaching a high enough energy density.
You can invest in battery-related companies through many brokers, and you can find here, on securities.io, our recommendations for the best brokers in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, as well as many other countries.
If you are not interested in picking specific lithium or battery companies, you can also look into biotech ETFs like Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF (BATT), Global X’s Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT), or the WisdomTree Battery Solutions UCITS ETF, which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the growing lithium and battery industry.
Or you can consult our “Top 10 Battery Metals & Renewable Energy Mining Stocks”.
Direct Lithium Extraction Company
Rin Tinto
Rio Tinto Group (RIO +0.13%)
Rio Tinto is a giant of the mining industry (the world’s second-largest), with a strong presence in iron mining, as well as copper, aluminum, gold, uranium, etc.
Rio Tinto is expanding quickly, notably with the mega iron mine project of Simandou in Guinea and the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, the largest project in the history of Mongolia.
Rio Tinto is expected to provide 25% of growth volumes in global copper supply in the next 5 years.
Recently it has made a massive entry into the lithium mining sector, with the acquisition of lithium giant Arcadium Lithium, itself the result of the merger in 2023 of large lithium producers Allkem & Livent, making it the 3rd largest lithium producer in the world.
Source: Arcadium
The merger created a company in all lithium production and processing steps. Arcadium has expansion plans in place to more than double capacity by the end of 2028
Arcadium Innovations
DLE
Regarding this acquisition, what has been described as “Rio Tinto’s real prize” is Arcadium’s direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. Arcadium has actually been working on DLE since 1996, in combination with evaporation pounds, and recently made significant progress in making it commercially viable as a stand-alone extraction method.
Notably, Livent acquired ILiAD Technologies in 2023.
“ILiAD Technology Platform combines a superior lithium selective adsorbent with continuous countercurrent bed processing”
“Livent is the world’s foremost practitioner and largest user of DLE-based production processes, and we are thrilled that they have recognized the advantages that ILiAD brings to the future of DLE.
It seems that the long-term expertise of Arcadium with DLE, and the “vast range of lithium laden brines under a wide variety of conditions” of ILiAD were a prime reason for Rio Tinto’s decision to acquire Arcadium, on top of its low valuation due to the cyclical nature of lithium markets.
While in the long run, electrochemical lithium extraction might replace adsorbent-based methods, it is also likely that experience in scaled-up DLE will anyway payoff if this becomes the main lithium extraction method in the future.
Lithium Foil
Arcadium also developed LIOVIX, a form of printable lithium foil that could be used to boost battery performances, reduce manufacturing costs, and reduce lithium use.
Source: Arcadium
Rio Tinto’s Green Profile
Arcadium’s acquisition firmly put Rio Tinto in the camp of mining industry innovators after its innovation in copper extraction through its venture Nuton. Nuton’s new technology allows for a much higher rate of copper recovery from mined ore.
Rio Tinto’s aluminum production is low-carbon, thanks to hydropower being used to refine bauxite into alumina and then aluminum.
Rio Tinto also invested in other lithium projects, recently acquiring the Ricon project in Argentina and the controversial Jadar lithium project in Serbia (potentially the largest lithium project in Europe).
Due to its recent acquisitions and new projects, Rio Tinto should increasingly be seen as an iron miner at the core, with an increasingly green profile and strong growth in all the metals required by the energy transition, especially copper, low-carbon aluminum, and lithium.