Charged EVs | LibertyStream hits 250,000-barrel milestone with field-scale direct lithium extraction in Texas

LibertyStream Infrastructure Companions’ proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) expertise has processed greater than 250,000 barrels of Permian Basin brine at its Texas discipline unit over 9 months of steady operations. This can be a key step in its focused system enhancements and leads into the ultimate de-risking stage: changing lithium chloride eluate to commercial-grade lithium carbonate.

The sphere unit’s system underwent a number of focused technical upgrades throughout this era. LibertyStream says the addition of a pre-treatment step that removes iron and natural compounds from the brine, enhancing extraction effectivity and decreasing reagent consumption. The sphere group additionally carried out in depth temperature administration assessments throughout each the DLE and acid restoration phases, establishing optimum thermal circumstances to boost course of kinetics—leading to quicker cycle occasions and decrease working prices. The system is organized into 4 modules, which have been used for real-time experimentation and efficiency benchmarking, supporting continuous discipline enhancements and confirming a modular enlargement technique.

LibertyStream’s subsequent main milestone is the commissioning of a lithium carbonate refining unit, scheduled for the primary half of the fourth quarter of 2025. The corporate has stockpiled lithium chloride eluate for instant processing as soon as the refining unit is operational, aiming to display single-location conversion of oilfield brine into battery-grade lithium carbonate.

LibertyStream says it has an higher manufacturing potential of roughly 220,000 tonnes every year of lithium carbonate equal based mostly on present discipline validation. That is anticipated to assist modular enlargement to extra North American basins, leveraging pre-existing water disposal networks for value effectivity and scale.

“We’re very happy to attain the 250,000-barrel technical DLE processing milestone,” stated Alex Wylie, President & CEO of LibertyStream. “Because the begin of 2025, our Subject Staff has operated seven days every week, relentlessly centered on upgrading and enhancing our system in preparation for business deployment. As we method the fourth quarter, the commissioning of our refining unit and subsequent conversion of stockpiled lithium eluate into commercial-grade lithium carbonate marks the ultimate vital step towards launching full-scale operations in 2026.”

Supply: LibertyStream Infrastructure Companions