Lithium extraction from ore has often been environmentally damaging, but a new method of clean extraction could provide a transformative solution and tackle the industry’s poor environmental reputation, increasing demand for processing as a consequence.

The use of lithium zirconate and other forms of the mineral in making lithium-ion batteries has grown exponentially in recent years, with such batteries in regular use in electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones, as well as in electric vehicles.

However, there have been major concerns about the processes used to extract lithium. The primary purpose of switching to electric vehicles is environmental, by reducing carbon emissions and air pollution by cutting and eventually eliminating petrol and diesel cars.

This imperative is laudable, but many would argue the process of replacing fossil fuels with lithium is itself so environmentally damaging as to negate the benefits.

 

What Are The Main Environmental Concerns About Lithium Mining?

A report produced last year by the Institute for Environmental Research, based in Washington, DC, highlighted some major concerns:

  •       Extensive use of scarce water in brine extraction techniques, such as evaporation ponds in arid, water-scarce climates, harms agriculture and local ecosystems
  •       Soil degradation and chemical pollution
  •       High levels of waste and habitat destruction caused by lithium ore mining
  •       Carbon-intensive refining, which mainly takes place in China
  •       The high carbon footprint of transporting lithium thousands of miles by ship to be processed

This has raised some major concerns and has even held back lithium vehicle adoption. For instance, a YouGov survey in 2024 found that 17 per cent of drivers in the UK planning to buy a non-EV car in the next 12 months were concerned about these environmental issues.

A clear implication of this is that demand for EVs would rise if mining were cleaner, which would increase demand for the processing of lithium.

 

How Could A New Method Extract Lithium From Ore With Less Waste?

A new technological breakthrough may offer a solution. Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the technique involves simplifying the extraction of lithium from ore that has been mined.

At present, the method involves dissolving lithium from the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene, but the new MIT method takes the opposite approach by dissolving the spodumene.

The process works as follows:

  •       The dissolution of spodumene is achieved using ammonium hydrogen difluoride
  •       This is provided in a liquid solution that breaks the bond between silicon and oxygen and reacts with metals in the spodumene
  •       This process produces different fluoride salts, including lithium fluoride
  •       Lithium fluoride can then be processed into other forms of lithium
  •       The process has been successfully tested on 17 varieties of spodumene, demonstrating that it can be used all over the world

The method has the advantages of being low-cost and producing very little waste, making the whole process cleaner. The MIT paper on the technique was published in the journal Science.

Author Camden Hunt, formerly head of MIT’s Centre for Electrification and Decarbonisation of Industry, said: “Our central thesis is if you can find an easier way to crack the rock, get lithium out, and make battery-grade lithium salts, you can change the lithium market.”

He said this was vital for encouraging rare earth use and could be critical in meeting the need to quadruple global lithium production by 2040.

MIT has already begun the work of commercialising its innovation through a spin-out company called Rock Zero.

 

How Can Cleaner Extraction Benefit The UK Lithium Mining Sector?

The benefits may be felt here in the UK, where lithium mining is just getting started.

Although brine extraction is the method that Weardale Lithium in County Durham and Cornish Lithium will both use, both involving less water-intensive methods, the latter also has a hard rock project at Trelavour, based in an old China clay pit.  

The development of a lithium mining industry in the UK over the next few years will already have environmental benefits in the UK, because rather than lithium being imported with a high carbon footprint from shipping, it can be mined and processed in the UK.

Indeed, the Trelavor project will process the lithium from the ore on site. This will mean the on-site process will involve:

  •       The initial extraction of granite ore from the ground
  •       Crushing of the material
  •       An overland conveyor will transfer the material to the plant
  •       Lithium hydroxide will be produced
  •       The lithium will then be sealed and transported to gigafactories to be made into batteries

The innovation emerging from MIT will promise to make this process considerably greener and, alongside more water-efficient methods of extracting thermal brines, will go a long way to counter arguments that lithium is a liability in the quest for cleaner energy sources.