Startup company Princeton Critical Minerals, formerly PureLi, has developed a unique innovation for boosting the production of lithium and other critical minerals from evaporation ponds.
The technology is a black disc that floats on the pond surface like a lily pad. It nearly doubles the amount of incoming sunlight converted to thermal energy, which accelerates the evaporation process and mineral production. The traditional process is less than 50% efficient.
Field tests at evaporation ponds in northern Chile with partner Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM), proved the technology boosted evaporation rates by between 40 and 122% compared to open ponds, depending on the composition of the brine within the pond.
The PCM team believe the technology could alleviate the need to construct additional evaporation ponds (some of which sprawl over many miles) and therefore reduce the environmental impact of extraction.
The research was featured in an article and on the cover of Nature Water scientific journal.
Image credit: SQM
