Lithium Extraction from Geothermal Brine

Power Magazine - Sonal Patel

Excerpt:

If there is a prominent buzz around power plant wastewater as an unexploited resource today, it is largely centered on the recovery of freshwater, minerals, and energy from geothermal brine. Considerable interest is growing in extracting lithium—a principal component of high-energy-density batteries–from lithium-rich geothermal brines. Several companies have centered their operations on lithium mining from brine to leverage what they say is a burgeoning opportunity. These include Controlled Thermal Resources Cornish Lithium/Cornish Metals, and Vulcan Energy Resources.

Australian firm Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) is developing a project in California’s Imperial County near the Salton Sea. The project seeks to co-produce geothermal power and lithium via direct extraction, and potentially other minerals including rare earth elements, potassium, zinc, manganese, and rubidium. The project is staged to deliver 50 MW and 25,000 tonnes of lithium in 2024.

According to a comprehensive overview of direct lithium extraction technologies that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published in late 2021, the most technologically advanced approach involves adsorption of lithium using inorganic sorbents.

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