SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Lithium is a critical element for development and deployment of clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage systems. Most of the world's lithium is currently supplied by just a few countries, with China dominating the processing of raw lithium into usable forms. This resource distribution poses national security and supply chain risks. The availability and affordability of lithium are essential to achieving the Department of Energy’s goals of reducing carbon emissions, enhancing energy security, and promoting clean energy innovation. The DoE has demonstrated interest in supporting efforts to enhance domestic lithium production and processing capabilities. Our company is developing biotechnology to extract lithium from sedimentary clays, an untapped source of lithium in the United States, utilizing microbial metabolic products. By optimizing the production of specific metabolites and controlling the conditions of the leaching process, we can increase extraction efficiency and selectivity. We are developing this technology in collaboration with mining companies to ensure our method is scalable for commercial production. Our goal is to provide a cost-effective solution for extracting lithium from domestic sedimentary clay. In Phase I work, we screened bacteria, fungi, and metabolites for lithium-clay extraction efficiency. We tested the efficacy of various abiotic agents in combination with promising organisms to enhance leaching efficiency. We demonstrated excellent recovery at low pulp density using both direct and indirect heated biolixiviant leach processes. We began scaling the process to larger volumes while simultaneously genetically engineering an organism to increase its production of a specific leaching metabolite. Our efforts have demonstrated proof of concept biotechnology for lithium extraction and move us closer to a cost-effective, sustainable process for domestic lithium production. Our Phase II work will focus on scale-up, and optimization. The bulk of our effort over the Phase II period of performance will be scaling our current lithium leaching bioreactors from bench to pilot scale. This work will be conducted alongside one of our mining partners, with reactors developed both at our facility and on the mine site. Scaleup optimization will focus on maximizing yield, and minimizing residence time, feedstock, and waste streams. We will engage new collaborating mining companies to evaluate the translatability of our technology to different clay types. Our biotechnology will have wide-ranging benefits for the environment, the economy, and national security. Given the demand for lithium, developing an alternative biotechnology for the extraction of lithium from clay has immediate commercial application. Significant benefits in addition to supply include the reduction of environmental impact associated with traditional lithium extraction methods, which can result in contamination of soil, water, and air. Development of a domestic source of lithium will create jobs and stimulate economic growth in regions with lithium clay deposits.
