EnergySource Minerals and Ford sign offtake agreement for geothermal lithium

Simple diagram of the lithium extraction process of EnergySource Minerals (source: EnergySource Minerals)

California-based EnergySource Minerals (ESM) has announced a binding lithium supply contract with Ford Motor Company. Under the contract, ESM will be supplying sustainably produced lithium hydroxide from ESM’s Project ATLiS site in Imperial Valley, California where lithium is extracted from a geothermal brine resource.

Project ATLiS in California’s Salton Sea is expected to produce approximately 20,000 metric tons of lithium annually, which will quadruple the current U.S. supply of domestic lithium and is enough material to build around 500,000 EVs for the auto industry per year.

A key technology behind ESM’s Project ATLiS is the patented ILiAD platform. ILiAD will efficiently process lithium from lithium-bearing brine resources, including the geothermal brine resource in the Salton Sea Geothermal Resource Area. The innovation will allow ATLiS to connect to an existing operational geothermal power facility and remove the lithium from the brine, after it’s been used to generate geothermal power.

The ILiAD technology will dramatically reduce the water footprint of alternative approaches, will not consume reagents, will demonstrate order-of-magnitude longer operating life and achieve higher lithium recovery rates than others to date.

Extensive additional pilot operations have demonstrated that ILiAD can be widely used on lithium brine resources across the world. ILiAD’s application at Project ATLiS will highlight the scaled commercial viability of this state-of-the-art technology.

“We are delighted to announce this contract with Ford Motor Company,” said Eric Spomer, CEO of EnergySource Minerals. “The domestic supply chain for EVs in the United States is taking shape, literally from the ground up. Ford is embracing a domestic, sustainable standard for EV manufacturing, and we are proud to play a part in building America’s clean energy supply chain.”

Added Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of EV Industrialization, Model e: “We are working with promising companies such as ESM to help support our ability to scale EV production and make EVs more accessible for customers over time. The work we are doing with ESM is key to growing our access to minerals such as lithium, which is essential to Ford’s EV growth.”

Source: EnergySource Minerals