Featured in Treasure Islands – 08-2024

Could direct extraction be lithium’s Nirvana?

Amid significant environmental concern about the impact of more widespread lithium mining, various methods of extracting the battery material from brine could offer a cleaner solution – and reignite a historical Cornish industry.

By

Mark Hutchins

12 Aug 2024

Cleantech Lithium has begun preliminary drilling and feasibility studies for a direct extraction plant in Laguna Verde, Chile. | Photo: Cleantech Lithium

Lithium demand is rising and pricing agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) expects a million-ton lithium materials market in 2024 and a compound annual growth rate of 15% to 2033.Analysts including BMI anticipate the onset of a lithium shortage around 2029 amid environmental and political concerns about the required expansion of lithium mining and processing and …

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