Key Takeaways
- Brine, the mineral-rich saltwater found underground, holds roughly one-third of the world’s lithium.
- Traditional evaporation ponds take up to three years to produce lithium; modern DLE takes hours.
- The U.S. has significant domestic brine resources but it currently produces less than 1% of global supply.
- EnergyX’s GET-Lit™ platform, backed by 150+ patents, covers a wide range of brine types.
Lithium extraction from brine is the process of recovering dissolved lithium from mineral-rich saltwater found in underground aquifers, salt flats, geothermal reservoirs, and oilfield formations.
Unlike hard-rock mining, which requires crushing and chemically treating solid ore, brine extraction starts with water that already has lithium dissolved in it, alongside sodium, magnesium, calcium, and dozens of other compounds.
The engineering challenge is not finding the lithium. It is separating it from everything else efficiently and at a pace that keeps up with the world’s growing demand.
What Is Lithium Brine?
Brine, in the context of lithium production, refers to naturally occurring saline water that has accumulated in underground aquifers, volcanic basins, or geological formations over millions of years.
As water moves through rock and sediment, it slowly dissolves minerals from the surrounding geology, including lithium salts. In tectonically active, arid regions, evaporation concentrates those dissolved minerals near the surface, building up lithium-rich brine systems that can be enormous in scale.
The result is a resource that is fundamentally different from hard-rock lithium deposits. The lithium is not locked inside a mineral that must be mined, roasted, and chemically attacked to release it. It is already in solution, which theoretically makes it faster and less disruptive to access.
The practical challenge is that brine is a complex mixture. Lithium typically represents only a fraction of the dissolved solids present, and separating it cleanly from competing ions at commercial scale is where most of the technical and economic difficulty lies.
Where Do Lithium Brines Come From?
Three distinct geological sources drive commercial and near-commercial production, each with different lithium concentrations, geographies, and extraction requirements.
Continental (Salar) Brines
Continental brines, found beneath salt flats in arid, high-altitude basins, are the most established commercial source of lithium brine globally.
South America’s Lithium Triangle, spanning Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, holds the highest natural lithium concentrations of any brine resource in the world, typically ranging from 200 to more than 1,500 milligrams of lithium per litre.
The Salar de Atacama in Chile alone accounts for more than 40% of global lithium supply, operated primarily by SQM and Albemarle. These resources have historically been extracted using large solar evaporation ponds, a method suited to the region’s exceptional evaporation rates and high lithium concentrations.
EnergyX holds lithium resource interests across Chile and Argentina, where the GET-Lit™ platform is positioned to improve recovery rates and reduce the environmental footprint of extraction from these high-value continental brines.
Geothermal Brines
Geothermal brine is hot, mineral-rich water brought to the surface as part of geothermal energy production. These brines often contain lithium at lower concentrations than salar sources, typically 100 to 300 milligrams per litre, but they have the unique benefit of producing lithium alongside generating electricity.
This means that an existing energy asset can become a lithium supply asset with minimal incremental land use or environmental disturbance.
The Salton Sea in California is the most prominent U.S. geothermal brine resource, attracting significant attention and investment from major energy companies as domestic lithium demand rises.
Oilfield Produced Water
Perhaps the most overlooked brine source in the public conversation, oilfield produced water is brine that is brought to the surface as a byproduct of oil and gas production.
In many formations, this water, which has historically been treated as industrial waste and disposed of at significant cost, is rich in dissolved lithium. The Smackover Formation, running across Texas and Arkansas, is one of the most lithium-rich oilfield brine resources in the United States.
EnergyX’s Project Lonestar™, the company’s demonstration-scale facility in Hooks, Texas, is already processing approximately 250 metric tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate equivalent from Smackover brine, converting what was previously an industrial waste stream into domestic battery-grade lithium supply.
How Is Lithium Extracted from Brine?
For most of the past five decades, lithium extraction from brine has followed a remarkably similar sequence of steps.
Lithium-rich brine is pumped from underground aquifers to the surface. It is then directed into a series of large, shallow evaporation ponds, where sunlight and wind do the slow work of evaporating the water, leaving behind a progressively more concentrated brine.
This process typically takes between 12 and 36 months, during which other salts, including sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium compounds, precipitate out in stages as concentrations rise.
Once the brine is sufficiently concentrated, it moves into a chemical processing facility, where reagents including soda ash are used to precipitate lithium carbonate from the solution. The lithium carbonate is then filtered, dried, and further refined into battery-grade material.
The process works, and it continues to underpin a significant share of global lithium supply, but its limitations are significant:
- Recovery rates for traditional evaporation-pond extraction are typically in the range of 20 to 60%, meaning a substantial proportion of the lithium present in the original brine is never recovered.
- The land footprint of evaporation pond complexes can span hundreds of hectares.
- Water lost to evaporation is permanent, a serious concern in the water-stressed regions where most salar brines are found.
- The timeline, measured in seasons rather than hours, is increasingly incompatible with the pace at which lithium supply needs to grow.
Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) from Brine
Direct Lithium Extraction replaces the passive, solar-driven evaporation step with active, engineered separation.
Rather than waiting for water to evaporate and lithium to concentrate, DLE technologies selectively capture lithium ions directly from the brine, using one of several approaches, including adsorption, solvent extraction, or membrane separation.
The operational difference is significant. Where evaporation ponds require a year or more to produce a first batch of concentrated brine, DLE processes complete the same separation step in a matter of hours.
Recovery rates above 90% are achievable with well-designed DLE systems, compared to the 20 to 60% typical of evaporation methods. Spent brine, now stripped of much of its lithium, can be reinjected back into the originating aquifer rather than lost permanently to the atmosphere.
EnergyX’s GET-Lit™ technology platform is built around this principle and extends it considerably further. Backed by more than 150 patents, GET-Lit™ is not a single DLE method but a portfolio of technologies, spanning adsorption, solvent extraction, and selective membrane separation, that can be configured and combined depending on the specific chemistry of the brine being processed.
This flexibility is what allows GET-Lit™ to work on virtually any brine type, from high-concentration salar brines in South America to lower-grade oilfield produced water in Texas, rather than being optimised for one resource type and ill-suited to others.
| Factor | Traditional Evaporation Ponds | Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) |
| Timeline | 12 to 36 months | Hours to days |
| Recovery rate | 20 to 60% | 90%+ |
| Land footprint | Hundreds of hectares | Compact, engineered facility |
| Water impact | Water lost permanently to evaporation | Spent brine can be reinjected |
| Brine suitability | Best suited to high-concentration salar brines | Designed for a wide range of brine types |
| Energy source | Passive solar | Active (pumps and process equipment) |
| Carbon intensity (Scope 1+Scope 2) | Lower than hard rock; ~11-15 tonnes CO2 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent | ~2-6 tonnes CO2 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent |
| Commercial maturity | Decades of established use | Proven at demonstration scale; commercial scale ramping up |
Lithium Brine Extraction Cost
Traditional solar-evaporation brine extraction carries reported operating costs of approximately $3,300 to $4,900 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), making it a comparatively low-cost production route for continental brines with suitable chemistry, water availability and arid geography. Its cost advantage is driven largely by reliance on solar energy, although it requires extensive pond infrastructure and long evaporation cycles.
Hard-rock spodumene production, by comparison, has reported operating costs of approximately $3,600 to $8,000 per tonne of LCE, reflecting the energy- and chemical-intensive requirements of mining, crushing, concentration, thermal conversion and refining of solid ore into lithium chemicals.
DLE from brine can be competitive on an operating-cost basis, but it should not be treated as a single uniform cost category. Published estimates for individual DLE approaches range from roughly $2,800 to $4,600 per tonne of LCE for adsorption, ion-exchange, membrane and related processes; actual project costs can be materially higher depending on lithium concentration, impurity levels, pretreatment, energy, reagents and plant scale.
For brines that are too low in lithium concentration, too high in competing ions, or in the wrong climate for evaporation ponds to be viable, DLE is not just cheaper at the margin. It is the only commercially realistic extraction route, which opens up a large class of oilfield and geothermal brine resources that were previously stranded.
The Environmental Impact of Brine Extraction
Brine extraction generally has a lower environmental impact than hard-rock mining, especially when the resource is managed with appropriate DLE methods.
Traditional evaporation ponds can consume significant amounts of water and require large areas of land, which can affect local ecosystems if not carefully managed in water-scarce regions.
Direct Lithium Extraction offers a more efficient alternative. By separating lithium directly from the brine and reinjecting the spent brine underground, DLE can reduce water loss, minimise land use and recover more lithium from the same resource.
EnergyX applies these principles through its GET-Lit™ platform, which is designed to improve recovery rates while supporting more responsible, closed-loop lithium production. Learn more about our sustainable approach on our sustainability page.
The United States’ Lithium Brine Resources
The United States has abundant lithium brine resources but currently produces less than 1% of the world’s lithium. As demand grows, developing domestic supply has become a strategic priority.
Key resources include Nevada’s Silver Peak, California’s Salton Sea, Utah’s Great Salt Lake basin and the Smackover Formation across Texas and Arkansas.
Many of these resources are not well suited to traditional evaporation ponds because of their chemistry, local weather or lower lithium concentrations. Direct Lithium Extraction changes that by making more domestic brines commercially viable.
EnergyX is helping unlock this potential through projects including Project Lonestar™ in Texas and the planned Project Powder Hound™ in Utah.
Can Lithium Be Extracted from Seawater?
Although the world’s oceans contain vast amounts of dissolved lithium, concentrations are extremely low, around 0.17 milligrams per litre, which means that it is not economical at commercial scale.
Recovering lithium from seawater requires processing enormous volumes of water while separating lithium from much higher concentrations of other dissolved minerals.
Researchers are developing advanced membranes and electrochemical technologies that could improve extraction efficiency, many of which build on the same principles as Direct Lithium Extraction.
For the foreseeable future, naturally occurring underground brines remain the most practical and cost-effective source of lithium.
Putting Lithium Extraction Into Practice
As demand for lithium continues to accelerate, producers need extraction methods that are faster, more efficient and better suited to a wider range of resources. While evaporation ponds remain an important part of today’s supply chain, Direct Lithium Extraction is expanding what is possible by improving recovery rates, reducing production timelines and unlocking brines that were previously uneconomic to develop.
EnergyX is applying these principles through its GET-Lit™ platform, which combines multiple DLE technologies to adapt to different brine chemistries. From Project Lonestar™ in Texas to Project Powder Hound™ in Utah, the company is demonstrating how advanced lithium extraction can support a more resilient, domestic and sustainable battery supply chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of lithium production comes from brine?
Around one-third of the world’s lithium comes from brine, with most of the remaining supply produced from hard-rock mining in Australia. As Direct Lithium Extraction advances, brine is expected to account for a growing share of global lithium production.
Why is lithium difficult to extract from brine?
Lithium makes up only a small proportion of the minerals dissolved in brine. The challenge is separating lithium from much higher concentrations of sodium, magnesium and other ions efficiently. Direct Lithium Extraction is designed to make this process faster, more selective and more efficient.
Is lithium brine extraction profitable?
Lithium brine extraction is profitable provided the resource and technology are well matched. Traditional brine extraction is among the lowest-cost lithium production methods, while Direct Lithium Extraction can improve project economics through higher recovery rates, faster production and access to brine resources that evaporation ponds cannot process efficiently.
Does the United States have significant lithium brine resources?
The United States has major lithium brine resources, including the Smackover Formation, the Great Salt Lake basin and California’s Salton Sea. Advances in Direct Lithium Extraction are helping unlock these resources, strengthening domestic lithium production and reducing reliance on imported supply.