SLB to scale Li production system

Texas-based oil services provider SLB plans to bring its integrated direct lithium extraction method to commercial scale after verifying the process at its pilot plant in Nevada.

SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, achieved an independently verified recovery rate of 96pc lithium from a brine solution at the demonstration facility, the company said Tuesday.

It intends to build a full-size plant, which will produce battery-grade lithium products. No construction timeline was provided, as SLB is focused on obtaining all regulatory approvals and completing site designs first, the company told Argus.

The company touts that its closed-loop system — which incorporates subsurface mapping and conversion technologies — can produce lithium 500 times faster and with 95pc less water than traditional extraction methods, such as using evaporation pools in brine mining.

The volume of water consumption through the standard brine process of lithium production has been a source of contention between miners and local and regional authorities as many of the richer deposits sit in salt flats such as Chile's Salar de Atacama.

The modular units that SLB will market to customers have an annual lithium production capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes (t). The company says the system can be adjusted to produce a range of final products, such as lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, depending on need.

By Alex Nicoll