Technology Verification for Extracting Lithium from Brine

Summit Nanotech developed and tested a sorbent to extract lithium from collected raw brine samples. The result of testing the sorbent saw a sequential recovery rate of 78%.

Project at a Glance

Funding Recipient: Summit Nanotech
Website: Visit their website
Funding Awarded: $500,000
Project Duration: Aug 25, 2021 – Feb 14, 2023
Sector: Clean Technology, Energy, Environment
Program: Critical Minerals and Emerging Tech

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Project description:

Brine samples from Summit Nanotech’s (Summit’s) test site were collected and analyzed by InnoTech Alberta to evaluate the effectiveness of Summit’s developed sorbent technology. Raw brine was subjected to the sorbent material and the resulting lithium eluate was further subjected to a concentration, polishing, purification, and filtration process to produce lithium carbonate. The result of testing the sorbent saw a sequential recovery rate of 78%. Factors impacting the recovery rate may have included the scale of the tests relative to operational-scale conditions, and a lack of continuous operation conditions which reduced opportunities for recovering lithium from recycled process waters.