"ExxonMobil–yes, the American oil and gas juggernaut–is reportedly already working on tapping the huge lithium resources buried 10,000 feet under Arkansas’ surface. According to The New York Times, the company has already drilled exploratory wells in the state and plans to start production in 2027, with the ultimate goal of becoming a “leading” lithium supplier for electric vehicles. As reported by The Verge, the fossil fuel giant purchased drilling rights across 120,000 acres of land within the Smackover Formation in Arkansas."

Looks like someone may be holding a cattle prod to the backside of LAC to insure that they don't dawdle on LAC's expected date for the start of Phase 1 production at Thacker Pass.  LAC doesn't want to be at the and of the pack for 2027 production.  GM on one side of the equation vs Exxon Mobil on the other, hmmmm... and interesting competition,eh?

Oh, there is that small matter of how Exxon Mobile and its partners will approach that problem that won't just fade away:  How to process the raw form of the mineral?  

"Traditionally, the brine would be left in ponds until the water evaporates and the lithium can be scooped up, but this is time-consuming and requires a lot of physical space for the ponds. Another faster method is called direct lithium extraction (DLE) which uses chemical solvents or filters to separate the lithium from the water, but the technique is still in its infancy and there are concerns about the potential toxic waste left behind."

To DLE or NOT to DLE, THAT is the question! 

And it is a continuing question for all lithium mining companies, whether they are one of the stud horses at the poll position in the race or whether they occupy the rear end of the herd where it is more likely that their crosssing the finish line will be categorized as "also ran".

This article declares that DLE "is still in its infancy"

There’s Enough Lithium In Arkansas For The World’s EVs. Extracting It Is The Issue

Is that true or is the journalist who wrote that article, Iulian Dnistran, talking out of the hind end of the horse?

For anyone desiring a biased, but possibly circumspect view of the vagueries on the one hand and the veracities on the other, see the following link for a fairly wide view of the subject.  Lithium Harvest is biased about the subject since they propose to be one of the leaders in using DLE to extract lithium from oil field waste. They would not agree with Lulian Dnistran that DLE "is still in its infancy".

Lithium Extraction Methods - Lithium Harvest

The opening statement in that presentation declares:  " a new generation of innovative technologies, including Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), is emerging as a promising solution to overcome these challenges"

A little further from the introductory paragraph the article goes on to state:  "In recent years, a new innovative process called Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) has emerged as a promising alternative.  DLE technologies aim to extract lithium directly from brine or other lithium-rich sources with increased efficiency and reduced environmental footprint.  As the demand for lithium continues to grow with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and grid energy storage, developing and implementing DLE technologies become crucial in ensuring a sustainable lithium supply.

While established companies currently dominate the lithium market, the advancements in DLE technologies present new opportunities for a more efficient and enviironmentally conscious extraction process.  These innovations have the potential to reshape the industry, paving the way for a greener future and supporting the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable energy landscape."

To play Devil's Advocate for a moment, perhaps LAC is taking the same approach ( they sound similar on the surface of it) for extracting lithium as the one in the UK from granite that LAC is proposing for extracting it in Humboldt County from Lithium Clay.  Similar?  You be the judge, but first read some of the material from Rockwell Automation (working with Cornish Lithium) describing their solution to removing LCE from their raw material, lithium contained in granite:

"Cornish Lithium has licensed an acid-leaching, selective precipitation, and crystallization process developed to create lithium hydroxide from micaceous granite. This process is expected to be more environmentally friendly than the traditional hard rock process, which usually involves a significant calcination step, where the ore is calcined at 1,000°C."

"Rockwell Automation will play quite a crucial role in what we are doing," said David Moseley, process manager, hard rock minerals, at Cornish Lithium. "

"Two plants will be built; one is a mineral concentration plant where raw ore is crushed, milled, and separated to create lithium-enriched mica concentrate. The second is the chemical plant, with a hydrometallurgical acid leaching system that produces lithium sulfate, which is converted into lithium hydroxide. The chemical plant combines chemical reactors, precipitators, filtration, and crystallization. The demonstration plant is currently under construction and when commissioned is expected to operate for a year."

I added the highlighting to emphasize at least some similarity to what LAC is planning in its own way to produce LCE from the mine at Thacker Pass.

See the article linked as follows:  Rockwell Automation supports sustainable lithium production | Rockwell Automation

Going back to the history, such as it is, of DLE the long quote below shows how widespread through the world is the interest in DLE for lithium extraction:

"in the last decade the demand for lithium has increased rapidly and there has been considerable interest in potential new technologies that are capable of lithium production. DLE could potentially have a transformative impact on lithium production and several countries’ national lithium strategies/Acts promote it, including in Bolivia, in Chile (National Lithium Policy, NLP), and in the USA (the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)), as well as in the European Union (Critical Raw Materials Act). Since 2020, there has been significant investment in DLE innovation, with both government and private entities showing keen interest. Notably, the US Department of Energy (DOE) granted USD50 million to support Lilac Solutions, a DLE startup, in 2022 [6]. Additionally, in Bolivia consortia from Russia and China committed to investing USD1.5 billion in two DLE processing plants located in the towns of Pasto Grande and Uyuni Norte. These plants were expected to produce a minimum of 45,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually [7]. In 2021, Vulcan Energy Resources has raised USD320 million for its Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany, followed by receiving USD76 million from Stellantis investment in 2022 [8]. Some of the other investments include Rio Tinto acquiring the Argentinian Rincon DLE project for USD825 million and Koch Minerals and Trading investing USD252 million in Compass Minerals in 2022 [6, 9, 10]. The next wave of investments appears to be coming primarily from the oil and gas industry, including companies such as Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Occidental Petroleum, SLB (formerly Schlumberger), and Chevron Corp. [8]. Numerous significant DLE projects are dispersed globally, as depicted in Figure 1 alongside their target annual lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) output."

Source of that long tome above is the article at the following link:  Direct-Lithium-Extraction-DLE-An-introduction-ILiA-June-2024-v.1-English-web.pdf

That article also mentions Rockwell's proposed integrated solution to lithium extraction that combines more than one type of extraction method to include, of course, DLE but not limited to DLE.

If you go to page 7-15 of the article linked here:  Direct-Lithium-Extraction-DLE-An-introduction-ILiA-June-2024-v.1-English-web.pdf 

You will find a more detailed discussion of  various types of DLE.

Starting on page 16 you  will find information about TRL and the CRI.  So, what are they and how do they relate to Lithium Extraction, specifically to DLE?

"The Commercial Readiness Index (CRI) and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) are both metrics used to assess the readiness of technologies, but they focus on different aspects and serve different purposes. TRL, originating from NASA, measures technical maturity on a scale from 1 to 9. It tracks a technology's progression from basic principles to real-world operation, primarily through laboratory and field testing. TRL is commonly used in R&D to gauge a technology's advancement toward deployment. In contrast, the Commercial Readiness Index (CRI) evaluates a technology's readiness for market entry, considering factors like market demand, regulations, and financial viability. CRI provides insights into whether a technology is poised for successful commercialization, complementing TRL's technical assessment with commercial readiness indicators."

"Solvent extraction processes typically fall within the range of TRL 7-8 [12]. However, the solvent extraction DLE plant operated by Qinghai Chaidamu Xinghua Lithium Salt Co., Ltd, producing 10,000 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate, could potentially achieve a TRL of 8-9."

" It is worth noting that pressure-assisted membrane processes commonly used in DLE flowsheets, such as RO, NF and UF, have already attained a TRL of 9."

"adsorption and ion exchange methods stand out as the most advanced, with adsorption reaching a TRL of 9, notably with aluminium-based sorbents already at full-scale deployment."

"Currently, DLE technologies are assessed based on their TRL, indicating their technological maturity. However, there is not a standardized CRI specific to DLE methods. While TRL assessments provide insights into technical readiness, the absence of a CRI means factors like market demand and cost-effectiveness are not systematically evaluated for commercial deployment of DLE. Thus, while DLE technologies may show technical progress, their commercial readiness requires broader assessment beyond TRL levels."

"The GreenSpace Tech report by Deloitte [6] reports that approximately 38 technology developers and vendors are engaged in DLE, along with 57 lithium production projects either currently utilizing or intending to adopt DLE methods."

"in 2015, Simbol Materials successfully operated the adsorption-Al type DLE in pilot plant scale using geothermal brine in southern California, USA. The technology has also been commissioning by Vulcan Energy to produce battery-quality lithium hydroxide from geothermal brine in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany. The French-based company Eramet is also in the process of commissioning adsorption-Al type DLE technology in Argentina. Additionally, Albemarle and SQM are transitioning towards DLE technology in Chile and Arkansas, respectively. Major corporations such as Rio Tinto and ExxonMobil have plans to construct/expand DLE plants in their Argentina (Rincon) and Arkansas (Project Evergreen) respective projects, further showcasing the widespread adoption of this technology."

Companies such as Rockwell can provide "integrated" solutions and as that relates to LAC it just means that they can offer more than one method of extracting and processing lithium at the same time, then again that doesn't mean that the LAC Technical Center can't do the same thing without turning to an outside 3d party source.  

Not all view DLE as the "next best thing" and one of the detractors or near detractors might be Benchmark Securities: 

"DLE is unlikely to be the silver bullet for the lithium industry in the short-term therefore and Benchmark doesn’t believe the technology alone is sufficient to bridge structural deficits in the lithium market."

Rise of DLE will open up new sources of lithium supply this decade | Benchmark Source

1 year ago this month Stockhead had the following comments about DLE:

"DLE headwinds

But investors still have a lot to learn when it comes to DLE, with the term commonly used to capture technologies that are still in the R&D phase.

“What’s happened so far is there has been a lot of juniors entering the space slapping a ‘DLE’ badge on their projects and expecting to get a market uplift on that basis,” he says.

“Usually these companies don’t differentiate either, they just say they are using ‘DLE’ technology, which is hard for investors to understand.

“It’s also not helpful because then you get articles claiming the technology isn’t proven.

“And that’s not the case – roughly 10% of global lithium production comes from DLE projects in China and South America."

“There’s about five or six commercially producing projects in China alone, accounting for 80,000 tonnes of production."

See the complete article:  Notorious DLE: The lithium extraction technologies gunning for the crown - Stockhead

Standard Lithium in Arkansas might take exception to  Iulian Dnistran's claim that DLE is "still in its infancy" since on 24 April of this year, 2024, they announced that " Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium development company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully commissioned and validated the performance of the largest continuously-operating Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) equipment in North America. The Company recently installed a commercial-scale DLE column at its Demonstration Plant near El Dorado, Arkansas."

Finally, remember the comment from Stockhead that I listed shortly above:  "“And that’s not the case – roughly 10% of global lithium production comes from DLE projects in China and South America."

Iulian Dnistran obviously didn't read about the number of DLE projects in China and South America, did she?  

Since DLE is primarily geared toward liquid recovery projects such as brine recovery and oil field waste recovery the argument might be that it is not suitable to the type of situation with lithium clay as the source of lithium mineral at Thacker Pass, then again there is the creation of a slurry during the presently envisioned processing and might that slurry be amenable to further processing using DLE?  I certainly  don't know.  I am like Lulian Dnistran was on the question of "infancy" for DLE but in reference to whether or not DLE has an application with Lithium Clay mining.  I can't help but wonder, however if an "integrated approach" whereby more than one extraction method can be harmoniously orchestrated for a better outcome than using a single extraction method alone?  

Whether the "infant" DLE technology will ever be possible for LAC to utilize or not, it is apparent that at least some of the competitors of LAC, both here amongst the 40 or more real competitors and the wannabees operating in the state of Nevada, will be incorporating DLE in their own individual lithium extraction plans for the near and far term future.

Okiedo