Geolit Energy announced on the 23rd that its subsidiary in Israel, Extralith, plans to conduct pilot plant tests in the second half of the year in Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, and the United States. The plan includes demonstrating the capability to produce 5 to 10 kg of battery-grade lithium carbonate.
In April, Extralith received recognition for its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology from the Israeli Ministry of Energy and was awarded a $1 million grant. The grant will be used for the construction of a pilot plant at the Dead Sea in Israel, scheduled to begin operation in September.
Additionally, a pilot plant in the Magnesia region of Jordan is expected to start operating in July. Previously, Extralith signed a contract last year with the Jordanian Manaseer Group to extract lithium from brine at the Magnesia plant in the Dead Sea area of Jordan.
By the end of this year, Extralith plans to build a pilot plant to extract lithium in Source, Alberta, Canada. To this end, in June, it signed an adsorbent usage agreement with Canadian Geo2Lithium, which holds ion exchange DLE technology.
Furthermore, Extralith is promoting the application of DLE technology to brine from oil producers in the Permian Basin, a mineral-rich area in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, in collaboration with Water Energy Service, a U.S. company specializing in distributed water and wastewater solutions. In May, Extralith signed a joint development agreement for DLE technology with Water Energy Service and plans to install a pilot plant in September.
Founded in 2021, Extralith has developed ion exchange DLE technology based on adsorbents and is known to have successfully extracted lithium from 15 low-concentration brines ranging from 5 to 300 mg/l. The company states that compared to existing ion exchange DLE technologies, its technology excels in lithium absorption capacity, lithium selectivity, durability, cost, and processing time.
Extralith is also conducting lithium extraction business with its largest shareholder, Geolit Energy. Simon Rittsun, who was appointed as an inside director of Geolit Energy in April, is leading the related business.
A Geolit Energy official stated, "We are currently conducting due diligence for the acquisition of a geothermal power plant in the United States. Once the acquisition is completed, we plan to operate a pilot plant applying Extralith’s technology."
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