Occidental Petroleum has entered into a joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway's BHE Renewables in a tie-up to extract and produce lithium compounds, Occidental said in a news release on Tuesday.
The merger isn't out of left field. Occidental's wholly-owned subsidiary TerraLithium has patented DLE technologies that can process any lithium-containing brine "into a responsibly sourced supply of high-purity lithium," Oxy said. As for BHE, it operates 10 geothermal power plants in California that process 50,000 gallons of lithium-rich bring every minute, producing 345 MW of "clean energy".
The JV has already started a project at BHE facilities in California's Imperial Valley to "demonstrate the feasibility of using the TerraLithium DLE technology to produce lithium in an environmentally safe manner."
"This joint venture with TerraLithium represents a significant advancement in BHE Renewables' commitment to pursuing commercial lithium production that is environmentally safe, commercially viable and leads to good outcomes for the Imperial Valley community," said Alicia Knapp, President and CEO of BHE Renewables. "We are excited to be working with Occidental on this incredible opportunity to make the Imperial Valley a global leader in lithium production."
If all goes well, BHE has plans to build, own, and operate commercial lithium production facilities in Imperial Valley. It also plans to license the tech and eventually produce lithium beyond the borders of Imperial Valley.
"By leveraging Occidental's expertise in managing and processing brine in our oil and gas and chemicals businesses, combined with BHE Renewables' deep knowledge in geothermal operations, we are uniquely positioned to advance a more sustainable form of lithium production," said Richard Jackson, President, U.S. Onshore Resources and Carbon Management, Operations at Occidental. "We look forward to working with BHE Renewables to demonstrate how DLE technology can produce a critical mineral that society needs to further net zero goals."
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More
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