

Our Company

Products & Solutions

Sustainability

Innovation

Media

Investors
Lithium Overview

Lithium Solvent Extraction Progress beyond

Careers

Contact our experts

Contact Us

verview Lithium Solvent Extraction Lithium Mineral Flotation

Solvent extraction offers a cutting-edge alternative to the evaporation process commonly used for
the recovery of lithium. Despite its widespread adoption in other industries, solvent extraction
was not utilized for lithium recovery on a commercial scale until recently due to the absence of
effective lithium extractants. Working with Tenova Advanced Technologies, Solvay has created a
highly effective means for recovering lithium powered by our CYANEX® 936P lithium extractant.

Although the evaporation process for lithium recovery from brines has benefits, including its low
:
 operational costs, it is also inefficient, time-consuming, capital-intensive, weather-dependent and
inherently unsustainable. Due to climatic conditions and brine composition, many lithium-bearing
brine deposits are not amenable to the evaporative processing used in the Salar de Atacama in
northern Chile, the most significant source of lithium brine.

Lithium Solvent Extraction: Better, Faster,

Greener
Lithium solvent extraction is faster and more economical than competing lithium extraction
processes, taking only a matter of hours compared to the 18-month average residence time
required by the evaporation and precipitation route.

This alternative extraction process for lithium promotes improved efficiency as less lithium is lost
throughout each stage of the recovery and purification process. Lithium solvent extraction is not
dependent on weather conditions and has been shown to reduce the environmental footprint of
lithium production. Brine be returned to the salar a"er lithium extraction, and lithium solvent
extraction requires a fraction of the surface area that evaporation ponds demand.

Additionally, lithium solvent extraction is a highly versatile process enabling direct production of
high-purity lithium hydroxide monohydrate, LiOH.H2O, with no additional costs and without the
need for conversion from lithium carbonate, Li2CO3. Where applicable, lithium solvent extraction
facilitates the direct production of high-purity lithium carbonate through precipitation with soda
ash.

Additional Advantages of Lithium Solvent

Extraction
Although various direct lithium extraction processes - such as adsorption and ion exchange - are
effective in purifying lithium, only solvent extraction can reach required lithium concentration
levels without additional processing steps. While other direct lithium extraction routes concentrate
lithium to some extent, solvent extraction can achieve any concentration factor up to the
saturation limit.

Lithium solvent extraction is essentially a stand-alone process, whereas adsorption and ion
exchange typically require an additional concentration step, either through smaller solar
evaporation ponds, forced (artificial) evaporation, or solvent extraction, before the purified
:
 evaporation ponds, forced (artificial) evaporation, or solvent extraction, before the purified
solution can be converted to the final product.

Solvay’s Offering for Lithium Solvent Extraction

Solvay and Tenova Advanced Technologies have collaborated to offer producers a high-performing
lithium extractant that is reliable, efficient and designed specifically for lithium solvent extraction
operations. CYANEX® 936P is a phosphorus-based extractant that is particularly well suited to
extract lithium from salar brines. Although this lithium reagent is most commonly applied to
brines, it can be used for lithium extraction in spent solutions or mother liquors. CYANEX® 936P
may also be suitable for other lithium deposits, including geothermal sources, clay and hard-rock
deposits.

Benefits of CYANEX® 936P

CYANEX® 936P offers several unique benefits to help producers streamline the lithium solvent
extraction process:

1 High efficiency and selectivity for lithium over other minerals, like boron, sodium and
potassium

2 Recovery rate and lithium salt purity greater than 99%

3 High extraction capacity, meaning lithium can be extracted from a typical stream in
only a few stages

4 Facilitates the use of a fast, continuous, non-weather-dependent process

5 Contributes to the use of a lower CAPEX- and OPEX-intensive lithium extraction

process than traditional methods

6 Facilitates a non-water-intensive process, allowing lithium-depleted brine to be

:
 6 Facilitates a non-water-intensive process, allowing lithium-depleted brine to be
reinjected into the salar

How CYANEX® 936P Works

CYANEX® 936P works on any lithium stream that is free of divalent ions, which means Mg2+ and Ca2+
must be pre-removed via filtration or precipitation. The aqueous feed solution, or brine, contains
lithium in low concentration along with impurities and is contacted with an organic phase
containing CYANEX® 936P. The lithium is selectively extracted from the aqueous feed solution into
the organic phase by forming a complex with Solvay’s CYANEX® 936P during the extraction phase.
This stage is followed by a scrubbing stage to remove any remaining impurities before the
stripping stage, which produces a high-purity solution saturated with lithium.

The lithium-filled solution is directly converted into high-purity lithium hydroxide through
electrolysis or lithium carbonate via precipitation with soda ash. CYANEX® 936P enables a
continuous lithium production process in a matter of hours, regardless of weather conditions,
promoting sustainable, cost-effective lithium extraction.
:
 Lithium Overview

Lithium Mineral Flotation

Contact Our Business Team

Discuss your lithium recovery challenges with a member of our team.

Get in touch with us

:
 A circular future for hybrid and electric vehicle
batteries
Learn more about our consortium, a circular ecosystem for electric and hybrid vehicle
lithium-ion batteries.

Read More

Related content 1 /4
:
 Flotation Collectors Frothers
:
 Careers 

Social Responsibility 

Support 

Social Media

   

 

 See All Our Local Websites | Our Worldwide Presence

Contact us

Solvay's Privacy & Cookie Policy

Disclaimer

Terms and Conditions and Legal Notice

Sitemap

© Solvay 2023

沪ICP备15007541号-5 | 沪公⽹安备 31011202001085号

: