Standard Lithium Launches First Commercial-Scale DLE Column in North America

Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a prominent lithium development firm on the brink of commercialization, is delighted to announce the successful commissioning and validation of North America's largest continuously-operating Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) equipment. Recently installed at its Demonstration Plant near El Dorado, Arkansas, the commercial-scale DLE column, a Li-ProTM Lithium Selective Sorption (“LSS”) unit, is supplied by Koch Technology Solutions, LLC (“KTS”).

The column has been installed and seamlessly integrated into the Company’s existing Demonstration Plant. Presently, it is actively extracting lithium from Smackover Formation brine, boasting an impressive input flow rate of 90 gallons per minute (“gpm”; or 20.4 m3/hr). This installation stands as the largest known DLE setup and the sole instance of a commercial-scale DLE column operational in North America, as per the Company's knowledge. Since its commissioning, the column has maintained uninterrupted operation, surpassing the designated parameters for lithium recovery and impurity rejection. Below are the key technical highlights of the commercial-scale DLE column:

Key Observations:

•              Lithium Recovery Efficiency: Over a two-week period in April 2024, the Li-ProTM LSS (DLE) process demonstrated an average lithium recovery rate of 97.3% from the 90 gpm incoming brine flow, with the average lithium concentration in the incoming brine standing at 208 mg/L during the same period.

•           Contaminant Rejection Rate: Concurrently, the DLE process exhibited an average rejection rate of over 99% for key contaminants such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium from the brine, with less than 1% of these contaminants passing through the DLE step into the first lithium chloride solution. Moreover, over 95% of boron was rejected.

•             Enhanced Purity of Lithium Chloride Solution: The significant rejection of contaminants post-DLE operation leads to the production of a substantially purified lithium chloride solution (the eluate), which can undergo further refinement and concentration using established methods. These steps have been successfully demonstrated at the Company’s Demonstration Plant, ensuring the readiness of the final product for conversion into either lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide. Simply put, a higher impurity rejection rate during the DLE process enables more efficient production of battery-grade lithium products from the final lithium chloride solution.

•              Operational Cycles: The latest full-scale commercial Li-ProTM LSS column has completed over 86 operational cycles, while the Li-ProTM LSS technology has accumulated over 8,500 operational cycles at the Demonstration Plant.

•             Brine Treatment: As of March 2024, the Demonstration Plant had treated a cumulative volume of 17,039,825 gallons (64,495,738 liters) of Smackover brine, extracted directly from the formation and consistently reinjected back into it.

•              Lithium Chloride Production: Since May 2020, the Demonstration Plant has generated significant quantities of ‘raw’ lithium chloride eluate through multiple iterations of DLE technology development. Almost all of this ‘raw’ lithium chloride has been reintroduced into the formation via LANXESS’ existing tail brine reinjection infrastructure. Additionally, over the past four years, approximately 330,000 gallons (1.25 million liters) of concentrated and/or purified lithium chloride solution have been manufactured for further process testing or conversion into battery-grade lithium carbonate or hydroxide.

The operational performance of this commercial-scale DLE column serves as the basis for validating the design assumptions for the Phase 1A Project, while also providing essential support for the ongoing process design efforts for the South West Arkansas (“SWA”) Project.

Dr. Andy Robinson, Director, President & COO of Standard Lithium, remarked, "It is noteworthy that the column currently operational at SLI’s Demonstration Plant mirrors those slated for commercial application, encompassing identical specifications in terms of size, design, construction, and the sorbent media utilized within. Consequently, this pivotal collaboration between SLI and KTS at our Demonstration Plant represents the inaugural instance in North America where DLE technology has been effectively implemented using commercial-scale equipment. The validation of performance and the successful operation of this column represent significant risk mitigation steps as we progress towards establishing ourselves as the next major sustainable lithium producer in North America."