Compass Minerals , a leading global provider of essential minerals, has announced the achievement of several key milestones and provided strategic updates regarding development of its previously identified, approximately 2.4 mMT lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) resource on the Great Salt Lake. Phase one of development is expected to be located on the east side of the Great Salt Lake where a significant portion of the company’s existing infrastructure is located.
“Over the course of the past several months, we have continued to make great strides on several strategic fronts driving our lithium development project forward,” said Kevin S. Crutchfield, president and CEO. “After significant efforts assembling internal lithium expertise and successfully testing the conversion potential of our resource, we are very pleased to today announce the achievement of additional key milestones including the selection of our DLE technology provider, disclosure of our initial project economics and the completion of a third-party assessment of our project’s sustainability profile. We are confident that the continued forward momentum achieved through these milestones further demonstrates the value creation potential, differentiated positioning and formidable environmental profile of our planned lithium development, all of which we believe will prove to be competitive advantages for Compass Minerals.”
Following three years of extensive evaluation of multiple DLE technologies and providers, including pilot trials to demonstrate successful lithium extraction from the company’s Great Salt Lake brine resource, Compass Minerals has selected EnergySource Minerals (ESM) as its DLE technology provider. In pilot tests to date, ESM’s proprietary ILiAD™ adsorption technology has proven successful in processing Compass Minerals’ brine resource across four key assessment categories: lithium recovery; magnesium rejection; minimized environmental impact; and commercial readiness. Adsorption is a proven DLE technology already in use for commercial production at several lithium brine operations globally. Additionally, early conversion testing of Compass Minerals’ brine across a wide range of operating parameters has provided confidence in the scalability of the planned DLE facility to be located at Compass Minerals’ operations in Ogden, Utah.
“Our selection of ESM is the result of a comprehensive, competitive process, and we are excited to forge ahead on our lithium development with their team as a trusted provider,” said Chris Yandell, head of lithium. “Our multi-year assessment was focused on matching the right technology with our specific lithium brine resource – and we are confident we’ve done just that with this provider selection.”
EnergySource Minerals is a privately held company enabling customers to undergo lithium extraction with low-cost, low-carbon, safe and efficient operations. The ESM team comprises leaders in industrial project development, continuous adsorption and ion exchange processes and battery materials.
As it relates to downstream processing, Compass Minerals previously engaged Veolia, an established technology solutions provider, to conduct lithium chloride to lithium hydroxide conversion testing as the first-known conversion to battery grade lithium hydroxide of lithium brine originating from the Great Salt Lake. As disclosed previously, the resulting conversion sample met established battery-grade specifications for the U.S. domestic electric vehicle and energy storage markets.
Compass Minerals believes it remains on track to enter the market with a cost-competitive, battery-grade lithium product by 2025.
