Northern Lithium has successfully concluded its recent programme of long term 60-day pump tests.
Nick Pople, Northern Lithium managing director, said: “The results of these recent trials are a great step forward for our unique partnership established to deliver a secure, sustainable supply of lithium for the UK using Northern Lithium’s UK lithium brines, Evove’s UK developed advanced DLE technology and RSE’s UK process engineering expertise.”
In a UK first, the demonstration scale trials of Evove’s unique next-generation advanced Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology was a resounding success, proving the plant design and meeting critical production KPIs, including lithium recovery rates and product purity levels.
The project is believed to be one of only a handful that have been concluded at this scale world-wide outside China.
Trial data was collected by Evove to inform the design of several process efficiency innovations, most notably the ultra-selective nanofiltration membranes which are at the heart of this next-generation DLE system.
The membranes’ proven capability to remove nearly all impurities (especially calcium and magnesium) at the start of the DLE process creates significant efficiencies that translate to superior economics and a viable business case for decentralised production.
Pople added: “We have made considerable progress over the past year and are pleased that our recent long term pump tests and demo scale DLE trials have provided further proof of concept on our targeted path to first commercial production of lithium by the end of 2027.
“In the current geopolitical climate, it is encouraging that the UK government is recognising that the UK has an urgent need to secure its own domestic lithium supply. The results of our recent tests and trials have confirmed that Northern Lithium now has the opportunity and potential to scale up supply, within the next decade, to significantly more than our current base case target of 10,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium delivered per year from a series of production sites across the Northern Pennine Orefield.”
Northern Lithium concludes pump test trials
