Lithium extraction encompasses a number of methods, depending on specific feedstock or source, and is becoming a widely valued technology as the demand for lithium is on the rise. IDTechEx’s reports “Direct Lithium Extraction 2025-2035: Technologies, Players, Markets and Forecasts” and “Li-ion Battery Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Players, Applications, Outlooks and Forecasts” explore methods for extracting the metal and the main applications driving its global demand.
Lithium extraction technologies
Brine direct lithium extraction (DLE) has been named by IDTechEx as the fastest extraction method available, taking only a few hours to a few days, which is beneficial for meeting lithium market demands. Other options covered in the report includes brine evaporation, which takes between one and two years, and hard rock mining, which requires anywhere from a few weeks to months. Lithium extraction from sediment-hosted deposits is not yet a proven technology, though is also likely to take weeks to months – still no match for Brine DLE.
The limitations of ponds
Brine DLE conventionally has been used in conjunction with evaporation or concentration ponds. However, more recently, a new generation of DLE has been cultivated, where ponds are not a necessary part of the process. IDTechEx reports some of the issues that can arise as a result of heavy reliance on ponds, such as location and space limitations, weather uncertainty, and longer time periods associated with solar evaporation. The larger the pond required, the more prevalent these factors become.
Brine DLE with no ponds
A new generation of DLE that allows water to be collected and recycled instead of evaporating into the atmosphere through solar evaporation has had commercial operations started by a few companies within the industry, such as International Battery Metals and Eramet. Forced evaporation and reverse osmosis are two common approaches to water recovery. With this generation of DLE, water can be recycled and reused to reduce the overall water consumption for lithium extraction.
DLE technologies are less sensitive to impurities than pond-based extraction methods and more robust in their abilities to selectively extract lithium. This can be beneficial for brine deposits with higher impurity levels, such as where there is a high magnesium to lithium content, or in complex brine resources like geothermal brine, which stands at around 120 – 300 °C.
IDTechEx covers the differences between new approaches and traditional evaporation in greater detail within their Direct Lithium Extraction report.
The lithium market and applications
The purposes for all these growing lithium extraction technologies come directly as a result of increasing demand for lithium, driven by growing global demand for Li-ion batteries, which IDTechEx forecasts to grow at a CAGR of 15% from 2024-2035. Most of this demand will, in turn, come from demand for battery electric cars and vehicles. There have been some setbacks to the battery and EV industries, with demand growth slowing in Europe and the US. Uncertainties remain regarding the role of policy and regulation, potential trade tariffs, and electrification timelines. In the US, for example, the role of the IRA remains uncertain, with previously aggressive tax incentives and funding for domestic battery production potentially at risk. However, the medium-long-term outlook for battery and EV demand remains positive, while demand for stationary battery systems continued its trajectory of strong growth through 2024. But this demand will rely on ongoing reductions in battery prices, which will, in turn, require reliable and suitably low-cost supplies of raw materials, including lithium.
New lithium extraction technologies offer a route to quickly increasing the supply of lithium at potentially competitive prices. They can also help enable more localized lithium supply chains. In regions such as Europe and the US, where there is a lack of conventional lithium resource, new technologies could bring about positive changes and allow for localization to become more feasible, reducing their reliance on importing lithium from other regions.
