Construction of the first large-scale direct lithium extraction plant in the United States began last month in California’s “Lithium Valley,” igniting the potential to transform the Salton Sea area into a important source of the fundamental material for the energy transition.
Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings Inc., an Australian-based company, is leading the $1.85 billion project to build a fully integrated offshore lithium and renewable energy production facility in the region of the Imperial Valley. The opening on January 30 marked the start of construction on the first phase of the facility.
“We are building the foundation for a truly sustainable and clean energy battery materials campus that will close the gap between upstream, midstream and downstream activities and set new standards for battery supply chain integration in United States,” said Rod Colwell, the firm’s CEO.
The plant will integrate a geothermal plant with lithium production, which will make it the first facility in the world to combine these two processes. The first phase is expected to produce about 25,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate annually, enough to support the production of about 415,000 electric vehicles each year.
Major car manufacturers have already taken the opportunity to invest in the project. In 2021, General Motors became the first private investor, contributing an undisclosed “billion-dollar” amount. Additional support came in August 2023 when Stellantis invested $100 million.
When fully operational, the site is expected to produce up to 300,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually. Under a 10-year contract, the developer will supply Stellantis with up to 65,000 metric tons per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate.
Innovative methods
The method of direct lithium extraction in the plant works through two main steps. Initially, the geothermal plant generates clean energy and steam. The lithium is then extracted from the geothermal brine brought to the surface during the power generation process.
Instead of discarding the surface brine, it is injected back into the geothermal reservoir. The lithium extracted through the filtration process is then used to produce lithium carbonate or hydroxide.
The direct mining process “is not a new technology … and has actually been used for several decades in Argentina, albeit in a hybrid fashion,” explained Michael McKibben, professor emeritus of geology at the University of California, Riverside.
The method offers significant environmental advantages over hard rock mining, which involves blasting rock, followed by crushing, immersing it in sulfuric acid and finally roasting it at high temperatures to release the lithium.
The process “applied to both geothermal brines and oil field brines is a much more environmentally friendly technique because the infrastructure is already in place and the brine is already being brought to the surface in the case of geothermal power generation,” McKibben added. , you are simply selectively filtering lithium from the brine flow that is already occurring. No need to build extensive infrastructure.”
The method also boasts an extraction rate comparable to hard rock mining, around 95%, without the need for evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines and fossil fuel processing while generating its own power to boost the extraction process.
With the expected growth in the production of electric vehicles in the coming years, the demand for lithium is also expected to increase.
A report published last year by the US Lawrence Berkeley National Energy Laboratory revealed that production in the Salton Sea region could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to make more than 375 million vehicle batteries electric
“We could eventually, from this geothermal reservoir, produce enough lithium to meet all our domestic needs and maybe even have some left over for export,” said McKibben, who has studied the Mar de Salton since the seventies. “If we could produce lithium in the Salton Sea, manufacture and recycle batteries locally, we would essentially have a completely domestic supply chain, which … would create jobs nationally and generate tax revenue.”
Government support
At the state level, research and development efforts have been ongoing for years.
According to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, California has allocated more than $27 million to support nearly 20 research projects aimed at advancing innovations for lithium recovery from geothermal brines and related efforts since 2017. sign legislation in 2022. allocating $5 million to Imperial County to strengthen Lithium Valley and established the Lithium Mining Tax Act to ensure local communities participate in the growth of the industry.
“We are fully committed to Lithium Valley, establishing a global hub for clean energy and ensuring that local communities benefit from this unique opportunity,” Newsom said after the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab report. “This further validates California’s potential to become the leading source of batteries for our vehicles, homes and businesses around the world.”
The initiatives are based on a 2022 report from the Lithium Valley Commission, established in 2020 to explore opportunities and risks in lithium recovery from Imperial Valley geoherm brines. He recommended accelerated transmission planning, improved permitting processes, and secure funding for infrastructure investments and economic incentives to support industry growth and job training.
Just before the plant’s start-up, the California Energy Commission announced a grant opportunity on Jan. 18 to fund projects aimed at reducing scaling and corrosion impacts at California’s geothermal power plants or improving recovery of lithium and other valuable minerals from geothermal brine in the Salton Sea. rural area. The deadline for submitting proposals is April 15.
While direct lithium extraction is an established technology, “its application to geothermal and oil field brines is relatively recent,” McKibben said. “The challenge going forward will be to scale these processes up to commercial levels, and that will be the key area to monitor.”
