International Battery Metals Ltd. recently announced installation of its first commercial lithium production plant, co-located at US Magnesium's (US Mag) operations outside Salt Lake City, Utah. IBAT is currently commissioning the DLE plant with an initial design capacity of 5,000 metric tons/year and expects to begin lithium production in June. The plant processes brine produced from lithium-containing waste-magnesium salts, and the lithium chloride product will provide feed for high-purity lithium carbonate production by US Mag.

Lithium production is rising to meet demand, reaching approximately 180,000 metric tons in 2023, of which approximately 22,000 metric tons came from an established DLE project in Argentina. By 2030, global lithium demand is expected to surpass 2.4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. Currently, several established lithium companies as well as new entrants, are targeting DLE production in the coming years.

Conventional, stick-built DLE plants can take five to six years to deploy, while IBAT, by contrast, can deploy its modular DLE plant infrastructure in 18 months' time. IBAT's modular lithium extraction plant has been independently verified to extract more than 97% of available lithium from brine. Due to the plant's advanced water recovery rate of up to 98% of water recycled, IBAT's technology is highly protective of sensitive water resources.