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A Manchester company has made a major step forward in the UK ’ s ambitions to produce a domestic supply of lithium to power the domestic energy transition and the UK government ’ s goals of achieving net zero . Lithium is a critical raw material utilised in the production of electric vehicle batteries and Watercycle Technologies has successfully produced lithium carbonate crystals from brines .

ATERCYCLE TECHNOLOGIES ,

A UK deep tech company focused on developing sustainable , high-yield , low cost , mineral extraction and water treatment systems , has for the first time , successfully produced lithium carbonate from naturally occurring geothermal brines in the North East of England . This represents a major step forward in the UK ’ s ambitions to produce a domestic supply of lithium to power the domestic energy transition and the UK government ’ s goals of achieving net zero .

At its laboratory in The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre ( GEIC ) in Manchester , the company applied its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction & Crystallisation process ( DLEC ) to successfully produce lithium carbonate crystals from brines , extracted from Weardale Lithium Limited ’ s existing geothermal boreholes at Eastgate in County Durham .

The DLEC process selectively removes lithium ions from complex brines using mixed matrix hollow fibre adsorption membranes , followed by concentration , polishing and crystallisation stages . It is a low impact , low carbon and low water usage method of extracting lithium from brines , which Weardale intend to augment using power from renewable energy sources .

Being an end-to-end solution enables resource owners to extract the highest possible value from a resource . By working with an end-to-end technology provider , it is not necessary to negotiate multiple contracts with several companies that only offer one part of the process . In addition , it negates the need to ship lithium concentrates for refinement elsewhere . Shipping concentrates ( comprised largely of water ) is expensive and increases the travel miles of the product .

THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE AS IT ADVANCES THE POSSIBILITY OF PRODUCING DOMESTIC LITHIUM .