Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM) has acquired a minority stake in the parent company of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology firm ILiAD Technologies.
Livent will have the right to license ILiAD technology for deployment at its lithium brine resource in Argentina, and is evaluating opportunities for future production use across its portfolio.
According to the company, commercial utilization could begin as early as 2025.
Livent’s project Fenix in the Western Subbasin of the Salar del Hombre Muerto is currently scheduled to undergo several phased expansions aimed at increasing the nominal lithium carbonate production capacity to 100,000 metric tons per year.
The first expansion, designed to double lithium carbonate production capacity to 40,000 Mt, is currently underway in two phases. The brine operation began producing lithium in 1997.
“We are excited to partner with ILiAD Technologies as we continue to invest in processes and technologies which advance our strategy of producing high-quality lithium chemicals efficiently and sustainably,” Livent CEO Paul Graves said.
The companies did not disclose financial details or the size of the stake purchased.
Livent received regulatory approval for its proposed $10.6 billion merger with Allkem last month.
The combined firm will be the world’s third-biggest producer of lithium, behind Albemarle and SQM.
Shares of Livent fell 0.3% by 10:10 p.m. EDT. The lithium developer has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion.
