The privately-owned critical materials company Northern Lithium has conducted tests on Li deposits discovered in the UK, including a 60-day pump test and direct lithium extraction (DLE) trials.
The firm claims there are economically viable concentrations of lithium in brines in the Northeast of England at relatively shallow drilling depths.
This is said to be evidenced from analysis of recent data collected during a 60-day pump test which confirmed the results of an initial 30-day test done back in 2024.
The firm used equipment from the DLE technology company Evove in its demonstration scale trials on the brines under the Northern Pennine Orefield in County Durham. These tests included lithium recovery rates and product purity levels.
The modelling from Evove claims a commercial end-to-end lithium recovery rate of 92% from raw brine to battery-grade product. This is based on 78 million data points collected with the processing of 3.5 million litres from Northern Lithium’s brines.
The lithium chloride/sulphate product produced is said to have a purity of 96.5%.
Both firms are to proceed with design engineering for a commercial scale DLE production unit, with the goal of it becoming operational for the end of 2027.
Nick Pople, managing director, Northern Lithium, 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.”
Chris Wyres, CEO, Evove, said: “We are delighted that Evove’s advanced filtration technology is helping bring the Northern Lithium project to commercial reality. From the first brine processing at industrial scale in our DLE Test Centre in Widnes in 2023 to delivering fully operational demonstration scale in-field DLE trials this year is a remarkable testament to the unique partnership between Northern Lithium, engineering firm RSE and Evove.”
Image: the Northern Lithium site after DLE trial 1. Credit: Northern Lithium
