Europe is accelerating the development of its domestic critical mineral supply chain to reduce external reliance on lithium resources. Unlike the Lithium Triangle in Latin America, which is dominated by saline brine and leverages natural evaporation for enrichment, European lithium resources are mostly found in geothermal brines, featuring distinct resource forms, physicochemical conditions and development constraints. As regional development practices for geothermal lithium brines continue to advance, relevant geothermal lithium extraction projects have officially entered the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot testing phase. Multiple processes are under verification, with plans to achieve large-scale commercial production in the long run to supply domestic lithium feedstock for Europe’s power battery industry. Accordingly, lithium extraction from geothermal brines has emerged as a noteworthy new frontier in global lithium supply.
Lithium extraction from geothermal brines boasts unique advantages: lithium resources are recovered alongside geothermal energy development. After treatment, the brine is reinjected, eliminating the need for large-scale evaporation ponds and lowering ecological impacts. Nevertheless, geothermal brines present highly complex working conditions. High temperatures, elevated calcium and magnesium levels, silica scaling and various coexisting impurities impose stringent requirements on the tolerance of adsorbent materials and the stability of process systems. Many adsorbents that deliver strong performance in laboratory settings are prone to issues such as reduced adsorption capacity, scaling and clogging, and diminished selectivity when applied to real geothermal brines. Furthermore, scaling up from lab-scale setups with a daily throughput of thousands of liters to ten-thousand-ton industrial production lines poses major hurdles related to material balance and working-condition adaptation before commercialization. As a result, numerous European geothermal lithium projects have regrettably stalled at the pilot stage and failed to achieve commercial deployment.
As a global DLE solution provider, BICHEM has long fully recognized the differences in working conditions between geothermal brines and conventional salt lake brines, meaning general salt lake processes cannot be directly adopted. Drawing on its extensive project experience, BICHEM addresses the characteristics of geothermal brines including high temperature, high impurity content and high scaling tendency. Supported by its three major patent portfolios covering extractant application, adsorbent conditioning adaptation and full-process system integration, BICHEM delivers complete process design spanning brine sample evaluation, lab testing, pilot trials and industrial scale-up.
Unlike service providers that only supply adsorbent materials, BICHEM focuses on end-to-end system solutions. To tackle the pain points of easy scaling and multi-ion interference inherent to geothermal brines, a pre-treatment unit is deployed to intercept scaling-prone components such as silicon, calcium and magnesium in advance and protect downstream adsorption and extraction units. Meanwhile, BICHEM optimises the material balance across the full chain, including lithium adsorption, lithium-rich liquor purification and impurity removal, mother liquor circulation and brine reinjection. This avoids a common industry pitfall where satisfactory performance is achieved in a single process section while the overall production line falls out of balance.
BICHEM’s proven standardized scale-up methodology effectively mitigates technical risks as geothermal projects advance from laboratory testing to commercial production. Long-term stability tests are conducted based on the actual brine composition to simulate material degradation under high-temperature conditions and deliver implementable process parameters, preventing process failures caused by simplistic proportional scaling. Customised solutions are available for both new geothermal lithium extraction projects and lithium recovery retrofits of existing geothermal facilities, balancing lithium recovery efficiency, equipment service life and environmental compliance for brine reinjection.
Against the backdrop of the geothermal lithium extraction boom, high-performance hardware alone cannot guarantee smooth project operation. Working condition adaptability and full-process scale-up capability constitute the core to successful commercialization. Drawing on patented technologies and practical experience from multiple ten-thousand-ton projects at home and abroad, BICHEM is committed to supporting the development of geothermal lithium resources in Europe, facilitating the stable local production of battery-grade lithium salts, and contributing technological strength to the diversification of the global new energy supply chain.
