Wealth Minerals, listed on Canada’s venture exchange with a market value of about C$132 million ($97 million), is planning to use direct lithium extraction, or DLE, rather than the brine evaporation method used by the only two producers in Chile, SQM and Albemarle Corp.
“ESG that the government is talking about, that fits very well with the Europeans,” Van Alphen said by phone. “If you don’t have that, they don’t want to talk to you.”
Usually, extraction is a lengthy process that includes pulling salt-rich water into storage tanks and letting it evaporate over time, leaving behind a lithium-rich brine. With DLE, brine can be reinjected back into salt flats, reducing the environmental impact and speeding production. It would also appease a government focused on raising environmental and social standards.
But DLE is barely used commercially anywhere and has to be adapted to the particular conditions of each salt flat….
