On September 10, 2024, SLB announced a significant breakthrough in sustainable lithium production at its demonstration plant in Clayton Valley, Nevada. This innovation aims to accelerate the availability of responsibly-sourced lithium products by combining SLB’s subsurface expertise with cutting-edge surface technologies, including direct lithium extraction (DLE). The proprietary solution developed by SLB extracts lithium 500 times faster than traditional methods while using only 10% of the land.

The demonstration plant, which is roughly one-tenth the size of a commercial-scale facility, achieved a verified recovery rate of 96% lithium from brine. SLB’s integrated solution encompasses the entire process—from advanced impurity treatment to concentration technologies—resulting in high-purity lithium carbonate or hydroxide. Notably, this method uses significantly less water, energy, and chemical reagents compared to other DLE approaches.

Gavin Rennick, President of SLB’s New Energy business, emphasized the importance of accelerating lithium production to support electrification while minimizing environmental impact. “Lithium is crucial for electrification, and we need to speed up its production in an environmentally responsible way,” he stated. “Our demonstration plant in Clayton Valley validates our integrated approach to producing scalable lithium efficiently and sustainably, paving the way for commercial-scale facilities that support our electrification economy.”

Traditional lithium production from brine relies on evaporation, a process that requires extensive land use and results in substantial water loss. This method also leaves behind salt, underground minerals, and used chemicals, impacting biodiversity and the environment. In contrast, SLB’s sustainable approach reduces water usage and includes a process for returning spent brine—now with lower lithium concentration—back to its source after extraction.

SLB’s solution dramatically speeds up the production process, completing the extraction and conversion to technical-grade lithium carbonate within hours, compared to up to 18 months for evaporation methods, which also have a lower recovery rate of 50% or less. The solution is adaptable for producing various lithium products, including lithium chloride (for lithium metal), lithium carbonate (for smartphones and short-range EVs), and lithium hydroxide (for long-range EV batteries).

By achieving these technical milestones, SLB has positioned itself to potentially acquire a 100% ownership interest in the Clayton Valley Project, under its earn-in agreement with Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.

SLB is a leading global technology company dedicated to advancing energy innovation for a sustainable planet. Operating in over 100 countries and with a workforce representing nearly twice as many nationalities, we focus on innovating within the oil and gas sector, delivering large-scale digital solutions, decarbonizing industries, and developing and scaling new energy systems to drive the energy transition.