Water is a precious resource, necessary for many applications and scarce in numerous parts of the world, including locations for mining projects. That’s why mining projects like A1 Lithium’s proposed lithium extraction project in southern Utah are finding ways to use less water while still producing the materials we need for our modern way of life.
In the design developed for water use on the project, 95 percent of the water used will be recycled.
A1 Lithium CEO Bruce Richardson said, “We believe how we are approaching our project sets us apart. Our process is efficient, we use less water than other manufacturing and lithium mining operations, we produce less carbon dioxide than hard rock mining and brine evaporation ponds, we are utilizing existing structures and land usage areas smartly to reduce our footprint, and we are using a closed loop process so there is no risk of accidental spills. Because the lithium we are extracting will go into electric vehicles, and the whole point of them is to have a lower impact on the environment, we’re operating from that same point of view.”
A1 Lithium estimates that they will initially be able to produce 10,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year and support 100 full-time jobs once in production.