Volt Lithium Reduces Operating Costs By 64%, Achieving Operational Milestone
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Volt Lithium has achieved another critical milestone on the path to commercializing its proprietary and proven next-generation Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology for processing oilfield brines at the company’s permanent Demonstration Plant in Calgary.
As a result of continued DLE technology process improvements, led by Volt’s scientific and engineering teams, the company has achieved a 64 percent reduction in full-cycle DLE operating costs to process brine from its Rainbow Lake, Alberta project at Volt’s Demonstration Plant.
This reduction builds on the company’s past success streamlining the DLE process and driving down costs in order to support robust margins for Volt’s production of lithium carbonate, even within a volatile price environment for lithium.
“Volt is well on our way to become the low-cost commercial producer of battery-grade lithium from oilfield brines in North America. The Volt engineering and technical teams continue to improve operational processes for our proprietary DLE technology that we believe will truly drive commercial success for the company,” said Alex Wylie, Volt’s president & CEO.
“As demand for high-quality lithium continues to grow, Volt’s latest achievement positions us to help meet the world’s expanding need for this critical mineral, and to do so in an environmentally sustainable and lower-impact manner,” added Wylie.
DLE OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS
Volt continues to accelerate process improvements related to its proprietary DLE technology at the company’s Demonstration Plant.
The operating costs reflect Volt’s costs to produce a marketable lithium carbonate of approximately 90 percent purity at the company’s field operations. This saleable, 90 percent purity lithium carbonate product can then be further refined into battery-grade lithium by an existing third party refiner.
In addition to driving meaningful cost reductions, the impact of Volt’s technological advancements has also resulted in significantly improved lithium extraction results, which rose from 90 percent in the May 2023 pilot to 98 percent in the recent February 2024 testing at the Demonstration Plant.
Given Volt’s DLE process is able to successfully remove 99 percent of impurities from the brine before processing, and achieve a 98 percent lithium extraction rate, the company can cost-effectively generate a high-quality eluate of 90 percent lithium carbonate. This 90 percent lithium carbonate is a product that can be sold to existing third-party refiners for further processing into a 99.5 percent battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide.
Volt Lithium is a lithium development and technology company aiming to be North America’s first commercial producer of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonates from oilfield brine. Their strategy is to leverage management’s hydrocarbon experience and existing infrastructure to extract lithium deposits from existing wells, thereby reducing capital costs, lowering risks, and supporting the world’s clean energy transition. With four differentiating pillars, and a proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology and process, Volt’s innovative approach to development is focused on allowing the highest lithium recoveries with lowest costs, positioning them well for future commercialization.
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