ILiAD Technologies has deployed a Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot unit at Rio Tinto’s Sal de Vida lithium brine project in Catamarca, Argentina.
The pilot program is designed to evaluate the long-term performance of ILiAD’s proprietary DLE process, including recent technical updates, across multiple brine compositions at the site.
The deployment will assess recovery rates, impurity rejection, water consumption, and operational stability under real-world operating conditions, with an emphasis on scalability and integration potential.
Direct Lithium Extraction technologies aim to selectively recover lithium from brines without relying on large evaporation ponds, offering a pathway to faster production timelines and reduced water use compared with conventional methods. These characteristics are increasingly important as global demand for battery-grade lithium continues to rise, driven primarily by electric vehicle (EV) production and stationary energy storage.
The Sal de Vida pilot builds on a strategic relationship established in 2023, when Rio Tinto invested in ILiAD. Rio Tinto brings decades of experience operating lithium extraction processes at commercial scale, providing a framework to evaluate emerging DLE technologies alongside established production methods.
ILiAD’s DLE approach is designed to operate across a wide range of global brine chemistries, targeting high lithium recovery while minimizing the extraction of unwanted impurities. The results of this pilot are expected to inform future decisions regarding large-scale deployment and the role of DLE in supporting sustainable lithium supply for battery applications.
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News