Watercycle Technologies Achieves Major UK Breakthrough in the Production of Large-Scale Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate from UK Brines
(11 November 2024, Manchester UK) - Watercycle Technologies Ltd (‘Watercycle’), a climate tech spinout from the University of Manchester specialising in the development of sustainable mineral recovery systems, has produced over 100kg of battery-grade lithium carbonate from UK-sourced brines.
HIGHLIGHTS
Extracted lithium carbonate from UK brines with >99.5% purity using its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC™) technology at pilot plant in Runcorn, UK.
Achievement demonstrates Watercycle's ability to scale its processes for industrial applications.
Scaling up to multi-ton production in the next six months.
One of the first systems in Europe capable of producing significant quantities of high-purity lithium carbonate crystals onsite.
Supports mission to build a resilient battery innovation ecosystem in the UK and strengthen a globally competitive battery mineral supply chain.
Photographed by ‘Clicked by Kate’
This result represents a major achievement towards building a robust battery innovation ecosystem in the UK and developing a globally competitive battery minerals supply chain.
The growth of the global electric vehicle market is building pressure on the supply of battery minerals, like lithium. The UK’s 100% reliance on imports of the mineral represents a strategic risk. Priority is now given to strengthening regional supply chains and fostering domestic job growth, reflecting the growing role of geopolitics in shaping energy policy. Creating a homegrown supply of refined lithium products is therefore critical to supporting the UK’s Net Zero transition.
Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim, CTO and Co-Founder highlighted ‘These results mark yet another technological breakthrough by our DLEC™ technology, one of the first in Europe to produce such quantities of lithium carbonate crystals. We understand our customers’ needs to obtain this product more efficiently, so we’ve designed our end-to-end solution to meet this demand. With the ability to generate refined lithium carbonate onsite, our technology offers customers the ability to capture more of the value chain. We are now positioning ourselves to supply lithium salts at the ton-scale for OEMs and chemical suppliers.’
Dr Seb Leaper, CEO and Co-founders says, ‘Thank you to all our partners who have supplied us with brine and enabled us to hit this exciting milestone. In particular I’d like to thank Innovate UK, Cornish Lithium and HTS Group, without whose support, the production of our pilot would not have been possible. Together we are making great strides towards securing a sustainable circular supply of critical raw materials here in the UK.’
ENDS
Watercycle Technologies - www.watercycletechnologies.com
Watercycle Technologies is a UK-based climate-tech company pioneering sustainable and circular critical mineral recovery essential for a Net Zero future, creating clean drinkable water in the process. It is initially focused on two areas critical to lithium production and creating a circular economy for the global energy transition, Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC™) and the recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries and black mass (shredded batteries). Watercycle Technologies’ scalable, modular technology delivers dramatic reductions in costs and has a reduced environmental impact compared to other processes available. Its patented technology can also be applied to the extraction of other critical minerals and metals from all types of water, including wastewater.
For media enquiries about Watercycle Technologies please contact Heloise Grandjouan at heloise.grandjouan@watercycletechnologies.com