RCS - Watercycle Tech. Ltd - Lithium Carbonate Produced From Geothermal Brines

E3 LithiumAnnouncement

12/05/2023 13:00

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RNS Number : 2558Z  Watercycle Technologies Limited  12 May 2023

 

 

12 May 2023

Watercycle Technologies Ltd ('Watercycle', 'WCT', or 'the Company')

 

Produces Lithium Carbonate From Geothermal Brines In The North East Of England

 

A UK company fuelling the battery revolution in the UK

 

Watercycle Technologies Ltd, a UK deep tech company focused on developing
sustainable, high-yield, low-cost, mineral extraction and water treatment
systems, has for the first time, successfully produced lithium carbonate from
naturally occurring geothermal brines in the North East of England.  This
represents a major step forward in the UK's ambitions to produce a domestic
supply of lithium to power the domestic energy transition and the UK
Government's goals of achieving net zero.

 

At its laboratory in The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre ('GEIC') in
Manchester, the Company applied its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction
& Crystallisation process ('DLEC™) to successfully produced lithium
carbonate crystals from brines, extracted from Weardale Lithium Limited's
('Weardale') existing geothermal boreholes at Eastgate, in County Durham.

 

The DLEC™ process selectively removes lithium ions from complex brines using
mixed matrix hollow fibre adsorption membranes followed by concentration,
polishing and crystallisation stages. It is a low-impact, low-carbon and
low-water usage method of extracting lithium from brines which Weardale intend
to augment using power from renewable energy sources. Being an end-to-end
solution enables resource owners to extract the highest possible value from a
resource. By working with an end-to-end technology provider, it is not
necessary to negotiate multiple contracts with several companies that only
offer one part of the process. In addition, it negates the need to ship
lithium concentrates for refinement elsewhere. Shipping concentrates
(comprised largely of water) is expensive and increases the travel miles of
the product.

 

Lithium is a critical raw material utilised in the production of electric
vehicle batteries. In order to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles
and meet net-zero targets, the UK needs a secure supply of lithium as there is
currently no commercial lithium production or refining in the UK or Europe.
Consequently, this is a significant milestone as it advances the possibility
of producing domestic lithium and in turn advancing an integrated
battery-supply chain industrial hub in the North East of England. Lithium
produced and refined in the UK will confer transportation cost advantages,
supply assurances and an environmental-premium over foreign suppliers.

 

This milestone enables Weardale to progress its step-wise plans for scaling up
trials of lithium extraction using the DLE technologies of Watercycle
Technologies, supporting and enabling the investment decision for the
construction and operation of a pilot-demonstration plant for test-scale
production of lithium. The modular pilot-demonstration facility will be
located on the brownfield, former cement works at Eastgate. Commercial
production of approximately 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year is
being targeted which has the potential to directly generate around 125 new
full-time, highly skilled jobs. At commercial scale, Weardale estimates that
£1bn of gross economic value could be generated for the North East region.

 

Dr. Seb Leaper, CEO of Watercycle Technologies said: "These positive results
on lithium carbonate extraction are fantastic news.  By utilising our
propriety membrane technology, we are the first company to produce lithium
carbonate from brines in the North East. Importantly our ground-breaking
DLEC™ technology produces zero waste, is water-neutral and requires 95% less
land than conventional lithium extraction processes. Furthermore, once the
extraction has taken place, all that will be left after operations are a few
manhole covers and so the natural beauty of the Weardale region will be
preserved for future generations. Net zero transition is fundamentally
impossible with existing supplies of critical minerals yet traditional modes
of extracting them are themselves environmentally damaging. Our technology can
put the UK at the forefront of the sustainable mineral recovery industry and
become a major contributor to future economic growth."

 

Watercycle co-founder and CTO Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim added, "Our technology has
taken years of development and these successful results with Weardale,
underpin the efficacy of our DLEC™ solution. With Weardale we believe we can
make a huge difference to providing economic benefits in a truly environmental
fashion, which underpin our business model.  Furthermore, we are not only
successfully partnering with lithium brine developers, but we are also making
fantastic headway in the extraction of multiple critical minerals from spent
batteries. Indeed, we recently produced commercial grade lithium carbonate and
graphite from black mass.  These are exciting times, and we look forward to
working with our partners and delivering high tech mineral extraction
solutions."

 

Stewart Dickson, CEO of Weardale Lithium, said: "The supply of domestic
lithium is of strategic importance to the UK's net zero ambitions and
production of high-value batteries for electric vehicles.  Utilising
Watercycle's technology, we have taken a significant step forward in
establishing that the naturally occurring geothermal brines are amenable for
lithium production and validated a number of direct lithium extraction
processes.  We look forward to working with the Watercycle team in scaling up
and accelerating the testing of increased volumes of brine towards first
production."

 

**ENDS**

For further details visit www.watercycletechnologies.com
(http://www.watercycletechnologies.com) or contact:

 Dr Seb Leiper                                  Watercycle Technologies Ltd  seb.leaper@watercycletechnologies.com

 CEO
 Isabelle Schenk                                Watercycle Technologies Ltd  isabelle.schenk@watercycletechnologies.com

 Head of Strategic Projects & Development

 

 

NOTES

Watercycle Technologies - www.watercycletechnologies.com
(http://www.watercycletechnologies.com)

Watercycle, spun out from the University of Manchester and backed by business
accelerator Aer Ventures, is an innovative, sustainability-driven deep tech
company focused on developing high-yield, low-cost mineral extraction, and
water treatment systems. Its advanced innovative membrane
distillation-crystallisation ('MDC') technology is capable of treating highly
concentrated water and is initially being utilised in lithium production from
sub surface water and brines, as well as lithium-ion spent battery recycling,
particularly relevant with regards to the current global transition towards a
Circular Economy.

 

The Company is operating from the world class facilities at the Masdar
Building at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Manchester, enabling
the team to conduct critical R&D in state-of-the-art laboratories.

 

The Company's patented membranes and systems are being developed and optimised
by its UK and international R&D team led by Dr Seb Leaper and Dr Ahmed
Abdelkarim to target industries including mining, desalination, agriculture,
textiles, and food & beverage.  Importantly, the modular technology
delivers dramatic reductions in costs and carbon emissions with one of the
important by product being fresh potable water.

 

Watercycle has a strong ethics-based business model that delivers profitable
commercial solutions that are also focused on sustainability, environmental
protection, and remediation.

 

About Weardale Lithium

Weardale Lithium Limited is an innovative natural resources company seeking to
provide a secure and sustainable, domestic supply of lithium with associated
geothermal energy from underground brines in County Durham, UK.

 

There is no lithium production in the UK and Europe despite a significant
market opportunity and rising demand. Working with key strategic partners to
develop a regional and national battery-metal supply chain, Weardale Lithium
will support the "net-zero" ambitions of the UK.

 

The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) -
www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/geic

GEIC helps companies develop and launch new technologies, products and
processes that exploit the remarkable properties of graphene and other 2D
materials.  Its world class facilities and resources, housed in the Masdar
Building, are supported by experienced and knowledgeable applications
engineers and internationally renowned academics, working across a broad range
of novel technologies and applications. Together, it can help design, develop,
scale and 'de-risk' the next generation of innovative products and processes.

 

 

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