Direct lithium extraction shows promise for more sustainable and cost-effective battery production

Gradiant’s spin-out, alkaLi, is leading the direct lithium extraction (DLE) and production market with its EC² technology, which has demonstrated 97% lithium recovery rate from salar brines in North America. The new technology is guaranteed by Gradiant to deliver at least 95% lithium recovery at customer sites, empowering industries to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate faster, cheaper, and more sustainably than ever.

alkaLi’s EC² technology is engineered to extract, concentrate, and convert battery-grade lithium to meet the accelerating demand from EVs, energy storage, and electronics. Producers now benefit from:

• Reduced costs with 50% lower OPEX and CAPEX costs
• Sustainability with minimized carbon and water footprints
• Accelerated production now measured in hours, not months
• Compact footprint in the form of rapidly deployable mobile 20- or 40-ft containers
• Expedited permitting with product water in discharge compliance and ready for re-injection

alkaLi has already proven EC²’s Concentrate process for a leading U.S. energy company at a commercial site in Clayton Valley, Nevada, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the foundational CFRO technology to concentrate lithium to battery-grade quality.

Demonstration testing of EC²’s three stages using salar brine feedwater confirms:

• Extract: Over 95% DLE efficiency, even with high COD content
• Concentrate: CFRO technology concentrates lithium to battery-grade levels above 200,000mg/L
• Convert: Precipitates highly concentrated lithium into a solid to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide

alkaLi’s Elemental Technology approach adapts the EC² technology stack to recover a wide range of other critical minerals, including copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, magnesium, and iron.

Later this month, alkaLi will commission a custom solution with a global mining leader in Western Australia, focusing on nickel and cobalt recovery from mine wastewater. Enhanced with Gradiant's Selective Chemical Extraction technology, the solution purifies feedwater, readying it for CFRO - a breakthrough system that outperforms any commercially available RO processes, delivering a concentrated 300,000 mg/L product with minimal energy use.

Once deployed, alkaLi will transform tailing ponds from environmental liabilities into valuable mineral sources, offering a sustainable path to meet global mineral demand. At another site in Southeast Asia, the EC² technology is already converting mine wastewater into high-value industrial-grade magnesium sulfate.

"alkaLi's modular approach to engineering the EC² technology stack continues a Gradiant philosophy of maximizing the impact of our cutting-edge innovation across industries and regions," says Prakash Govindan, COO of Gradiant. "The minerals we target are essential to accelerating the electrification of society, and I am thrilled that alkaLi will play such an important role in availing these raw materials to the world’s pioneers."