US lithium developer Prime Lithium is partnering with industrial technology producer IBC Advanced Technologies for its planned Wyoming refinery.
Prime lithium will use IBC's proprietary direct lithium to product (DLP) process at its planned Rock Springs, Wyoming, brine refinery project, which will produce lithium hydroxide. Direct lithium extraction is a process where instead of evaporating lithium from brines, specialized filters are used to extract lithium directly from the brine, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Wyoming refinery is targeting initial production of 8,000 metric tonnes/yr by 2026 and is expected to ramp up to 35,000 t/yr. The Rock Springs development contains 1.8bn t of lithium containing brine at a concentration of 97mg of lithium/liter.
These processes are gaining ground among active and developing lithium producers looking to take advantage of shorter production time and lower environmental impact. ExxonMobil plans to produce lithium in Arkansas starting in 2027 using a direct lithium extraction process. Arcadium, the merger product of lithium producers Livent and Allkem, purchased a minority stake in ILiAD Technologies so it could license its direct extraction process for its Argentina lithium business.
