With highly efficient and sustainable lithium extraction technology, the company is revolutionising the industry and promoting a more responsible way of harnessing this valuable resource.
US-based Ensorcia Group (Sorcia Minerals) is making significant progress in its negotiations with Codelco at the Salar de Maricunga. The company recently conducted direct extraction lithium recovery tests at IBAT’s industrial plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, yielding an impressive 95% of mineral content in the brine. These promising developments are generating interest in Codelco teams visiting the US facility.
Ensorcia Group is in negotiations with both Codelco and Enami, but so far has made concrete progress only with Codelco. Rodrigo Dupouy, CEO of LATAM Ensorcia Group, said his technical team has already met with Codelco’s technical team and expects to make a technical visit to the US facility in the near future. Although talks with Enami Lithium are at a preliminary stage, Dupouy expressed satisfaction with the progress made with Codelco.
Cutting-edge technology
The National Lithium Strategy seeks to promote more sustainable lithium production. In this regard, Ensorcia Group holds the exclusive patent for the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology developed by the Canadian company IBAT. This technology has been validated as the only one in the world for commercial production levels. An independent study by consultants Greg Mehos & Associates has shown that Ensorcia Group’s DLE technology achieves up to 95% efficiency in separating lithium and chlorine from brine.
This technological breakthrough is of great importance to the lithium industry, especially in Chile, where historically the pool evaporation technique has been used, which has a significant impact on water resources and only achieves a maximum extraction efficiency of 50%. Ensorcia Group’s technology is not only more efficient, but also allows 92% of the brine to be re-injected into the salt flats, contributing to the water balance and biodiversity in these delicate ecosystems.