Brine Mineral Extraction Technology: DLE, Costs, Companies

Brine mineral extraction technology pulls dissolved metals and salts out of underground or lake saltwater, using one of two main routes for lithium: solar evaporation ponds or direct lithium extraction (DLE). Resources for the Future (RFF) reported in 2025 that ponds recover 40 to 60 percent of the lithium, while DLE developers report around 90 percent under controlled conditions. The technology you choose changes the capital bill, the timeline and the water risk.

This guide is written for licence owners, consultants and investors who need to compare methods. It covers how each method works, what published projects say it costs, which companies are using it, what happens to the water, and how brine processing differs from gold ore processing. The calculator lets you test your own flow rate, grade and price.

A note on price: Trading Economics showed lithium at CNY 91,700 per tonne on 5 November 2026, down about 27 percent in a month, on a contract that tracks the China benchmark. That swing is why any margin figure on this page should be rerun with the price on the day you read it.

What brine mineral extraction technology covers

A brine is water carrying far more dissolved salt than seawater. Brine deposits sit under dry lake beds (salars or playas), in deep oilfield formations, in hot geothermal reservoirs and in salt lakes. Instead of blasting rock, an operator pumps the fluid to the surface, removes the target element and either discards the rest in ponds or returns it underground.

Lithium gets most of the attention, but it is not the only product. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 says two companies in Arkansas recover bromine from underground brines, and it estimates world bromine production at 430,000 tonnes in 2025, excluding US output, which is withheld. Israel (200,000 tonnes) and Jordan (110,000 tonnes) lead that table.

Sources for the table: USGS summaries for potash and magnesium metal. The magnesium row is a useful warning: a brine resource does not protect a plant from equipment failure. USGS links the fall in Utah output to failures of critical equipment from September 2021.

Lithium brine extraction: ponds vs direct lithium extraction

USGS records that lithium-producing brines such as Clayton Valley and Salar de Atacama range from 100 to over 7,000 ppm (parts per million, roughly milligrams per kilogram of fluid). Grade alone does not decide the method. Magnesium content, climate, depth and water rights matter as much.

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Reported lithium recovery by method

Percent of lithium in the brine; pond range, and two US project estimates for DLE

Evaporation ponds

Brine is pumped into shallow ponds and the sun removes the water. A 2026 Communications Earth and Environment study says up to 90 percent of the water content of the brine evaporates, and the concentrate reaches about 6 percent lithium before chemical processing into lithium carbonate. The method needs dry weather, a lot of flat land and patience. It is proven: Silver Peak in Nevada and the Salar de Atacama both run this way.

• Best for: very dry basins with high-grade brine and existing pond systems.
• Pros: long operating record; sunlight does much of the concentrating.
• Cons: 40 to 60 percent recovery (RFF, 2025); large land footprint; much of the brine water is lost to the air.

Direct lithium extraction

DLE is a family of processes, not one machine. The same study lists ion exchange, membranes and adsorption among them. RFF describes a typical project as wells into a brine reservoir, pipes to a central plant, lithium recovery within hours, then reinjection of the stripped brine. It takes far less land than ponds, yet still needs pipelines and surface plant.

• Best for: deep oilfield or geothermal brines, and humid places where ponds cannot work.
• Pros: hours instead of months; developers report about 90 percent recovery; smaller footprint.
• Cons: high capital cost; fewer long-run operating records; fresh water and chemical demand depends on the process.

Treat the recovery claims with care. RFF notes that the 90 percent figures come from controlled conditions, and a 2023 Nature Reviews Earth and Environment paper found that only 30 percent of DLE test experiments used real brines, even though some methods passed 95 percent recovery.

The main DLE process families

Whichever family you consider, ask for pilot data on your own brine and a written guarantee. The South West Arkansas project page says its licensed sorption process includes performance guarantees, which shows that this request is realistic.

What brine extraction costs: published project numbers

The most useful public comparison is RFF’s 2025 model of four US DLE projects, built from feasibility studies and company filings. Capital cost ranges from $500 million to $1.5 billion per project. All figures here are US dollars and are estimates for plants not yet built, not actual results.

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Battery-grade lithium carbonate, annual average

US$ per tonne, real terms; 2025 is an estimate

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Capital needed per tonne of annual capacity

US$ per tonne of annual LCE capacity, estimates for three US DLE projects

Costs move as studies mature. The later definitive feasibility study for South West Arkansas gives total capital of $1.45 billion, average cash operating costs of $4,516 per tonne and all-in costs of $5,924 per tonne for 22,500 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate. Do not compare that directly with RFF’s figure: definitions of operating cost differ between documents.

Now the part that matters most for a buyer or investor. RFF’s modeling suggests most US projects need an average of about $16,000 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE, the standard measure of lithium content) to break even. It also found that at a flat $8,000 to $12,000 per tonne, cash flows at SWA Reynolds would hover near zero in most years. An operating cost below the spot price therefore does not prove that a project pays back its capital.

USGS annual averages show how far the price can travel. Battery-grade lithium carbonate averaged $63,700 per tonne in 2022 and an estimated $9,000 in 2025, in real terms.

Brine yield and margin calculator

Use this to size one brine stream before you pay for a detailed study. It shows how much difference recovery makes when the flow and grade stay the same, and what is left after operating cost. It leaves out capital, royalties, tax and financing, so a positive margin does not mean a viable project.

Lithium brine extraction companies and projects

The table below is not a ranking and it is not a complete list of every developer. It covers operations and projects with a recent primary or official record, grouped by stage.

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Lithium mine production by country

Tonnes of contained lithium, 2025 estimate, selected countries; US withheld

How we chose

We included a project if a company filing, regulator, official report or named news report from 2025 or 2026 confirmed its owner and stage. Vendors that only sell technology are left out unless named in a project document. Listed names are given as facts, not as recommendations. This is not investment advice.

The United States has real resource depth in oilfield brine. USGS calculated 5.1 to 19.0 million metric tons of lithium in Smackover Formation brines of southern Arkansas. That is lithium in the ground, not a reserve. For the wider picture, see our guides to pegmatite, brine and clay lithium deposits, lithium mines in Nevada and lithium projects in Europe.

On global supply, USGS estimates that Chile produced 56,000 tonnes of contained lithium in 2025 and Argentina 23,000, against 92,000 from Australia, where supply comes from hard rock. US output is withheld. Batteries took an estimated 88 percent of global use.

RFF estimated that the four US projects it studied could lift domestic output from about 900 tonnes a year to about 55,000 tonnes LCE. That is a capacity estimate that depends on every project being built, not a forecast of what will happen by a set date. RFF’s base case also assumes a 2028 start, and later documents such as the South West Arkansas page already target 2029.

Water, reinjection and permitting risk

Water is often the deciding issue, and neither route is automatically clean. Total direct water use from brine evaporation can reach 620 cubic metres per tonne of LCE, depending on the brine and climate. Studies also differ on whether they count evaporated brine water as consumed, so compare like with like.

It is common to read that DLE saves water. The evidence is less tidy. The Nature Reviews authors warned that many DLE technologies might need more fresh water than current evaporative practice, and that this needs measuring urgently. Some methods also change the pH of the brine or heat it to 80 °C, which adds energy and chemical demand.

Questions to put to any operator or seller:

1. How much fresh water does the process use per tonne of LCE, and from which source?
2. Is the stripped brine reinjected, and into which zone?
3. Does reinjection dilute the production wells over time, according to the model?
4. Are there monitoring wells around the wellfield, and who publishes the readings?
5. Has a regulator or court reviewed the water analysis? Hell’s Kitchen shows how this can delay a project.

The Nature Reviews authors also stress that each salar has its own hydrogeology, so results from one deposit cannot simply be applied to another. Water table monitoring should begin before production, since some impacts appear only in the long term.

▶ The seven main environmental impacts of mining, explained in plain words (2:31) · 2:31

Brine vs gold ore: how the processing differs

Readers often compare lithium brine with gold ore because both end in chemistry. The difference starts with the feed. A gold plant must blast, haul, crush and grind solid rock before any metal dissolves. A brine plant receives metal already in solution, so it skips the rock breaking but has to pump very large volumes of fluid and separate one ion from many similar ones.

For the gold side, read our guide to advances in the cyanide gold process and our figures on yearly gold production. The video below follows a nugget from rock to refined metal.

▶ How gold is mined and refined, step by step (5:27) · 5:27

How to screen a brine project before you spend on drilling

1. Confirm title and fluid rights. Brine can fall under mineral, oil and gas or water law, depending on the place. Ask counsel, and confirm with the regulator.
2. Read the chemistry, not only the grade. Ask for lithium, magnesium, calcium and total dissolved solids from recent samples, with lab certificates.
3. Test flow. A rich sample means little unless wells can sustain the flow in your model.
4. Pilot on real brine. Require vendor results on your fluid, with recovery defined from brine to final product.
5. Stress the price. Run the calculator, then a full model with capital, royalties and tax, at several flat prices.
6. Check study level. A prefeasibility study and a definitive feasibility study can use different cost bases for one project.

Infographic

From brine sample to investment decision

1. 1RightsConfirm who controls the fluid.
2. 2ChemistryTest lithium and competing ions.
3. 3FlowProve sustained well rates.
4. 4PilotRun the process on real brine.
5. 5ModelStress price, capital and delays.

Satellite imagery can help at the desk stage. USGS has mapped lithium-rich playas in the Basin and Range with ASTER data, using surface signals such as source rocks and vegetation as a sign of water. Imagery cannot measure lithium in deep brine, so it narrows the search and does not replace sampling. Farmonaut offers satellite-based mineral detection for early target screening; results are exploration targets, not a resource estimate. See also our US mining map by state.

▶ How satellite data was used in a lithium exploration study in Nigeria (10:49) · 10:49

Frequently asked questions

What is brine mineral extraction technology?

It is the set of methods used to recover dissolved minerals such as lithium, bromine, potash and magnesium from saltwater. Methods include solar evaporation, chemical recovery, flotation of evaporated salts, and selective processes such as DLE.

How much lithium is extracted from brine?

Ponds recover 40 to 60 percent of the lithium in the brine, and DLE developers report about 90 percent under controlled conditions (RFF, 2025). Output at site level varies: Cauchari-Olaroz made 9,280 tonnes of carbonate in the second quarter of 2026.

What companies are using direct lithium extraction technology?

Eramet uses its own DLE process at Centenario in Argentina. In the United States, Smackover Lithium plans licensed sorption in Arkansas, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy has run a DLE pilot at the Salton Sea.

What are the alternatives to evaporation for lithium extraction?

The main alternatives are adsorption, ion exchange and membrane processes, grouped together as DLE. Hard rock mining of spodumene (a lithium mineral) is an alternative source of lithium rather than an alternative brine process.

What is the lithium extraction cost per tonne?

Published US DLE estimates include operating costs of about $5,175 to $8,722 per tonne in RFF’s 2025 model, and $4,516 cash cost for South West Arkansas in its later study. These are estimates, and RFF puts the average break-even price, with capital included, near $16,000.

How much does a lithium carbonate plant cost?

RFF gives $500 million to $1.5 billion per US DLE project. South West Arkansas lists $1.45 billion for 22,500 tonnes a year. Scope differs, so check whether wellfield, pipelines and contingency are included.

Is direct lithium extraction more sustainable than evaporation?

It can use less land and shorten processing, but it is not automatically better on water. Nature Reviews authors warned that many DLE technologies may need more fresh water than ponds, so ask for measured site data.

Where is lithium brine mining done in the United States?

Silver Peak in Clayton Valley, Nevada is the only active US lithium mine, according to a 2026 peer-reviewed study. Projects are advancing in the Smackover Formation of Arkansas, and at the Salton Sea in California.

Can oilfield brine produce lithium?

Yes, in principle. USGS calculated 5.1 to 19.0 million metric tons of lithium in Smackover brines of southern Arkansas, and DLE is the route being planned there because ponds suit dry basins better.

How is lithium brine extraction different from lithium ore mining?

Brine operations pump fluid and separate lithium from it. Ore mining removes and processes solid rock. Brine has less rock handling, while ore does not depend on wellfield performance.

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