<p>DLE technologies are often paraded to resolve the following issues that arise from conventional lithium brine extraction:</p><p><br/></p><ul class="jl-list1 list-paddingleft-2"><li><div class="con"><div class="info"><div class="tit"><span style="font-size: 14px;">High Mg/Li Ratio</span></div><div class="desc">^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">Magnesium competes with lithium for absorbents due to similar chemical properties, resulting in ineffective separation and prohibitive cost escalation</span>}</div></div></div></li><li><div class="con"><div class="pic"><img src="/upload/image/2023-11/1701008386867364.png" alt="008.png" title="1701008386867364.png"/></div></div></li><li><div class="con"><div class="info"><div class="tit"><span style="font-size: 14px;">High Water Usage</span></div><div class="desc">^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">Producing one tonne of lithium can require up to 70,000 liters of water, which creates irreversible ecological exhaustion and community disintegration</span>}</div></div></div></li><li><div class="con"><div class="info"><div class="tit"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Long Production Timeframe</span></div><div class="desc">^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">Conventional extraction through evaporation ponds alone can take up to two years</span>}</div></div></div></li><li><div class="con"><div class="pic"><img src="/upload/image/2023-11/1701008400796739.png" alt="009.png" title="1701008400796739.png"/></div></div></li><li><div class="con"><div class="info"><div class="tit"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Low Yield</span></div><div class="desc">^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">South American brine producers typically achieve yields of only 30-40% with the rest discarded, resulting in significant loss of valuable reserve</span>}</div></div></div></li></ul> <p><span style="text-wrap: wrap;">Promising DLE technologies are currently being developed not only by emergeing tech-savvy players but also by companies who wish to optimize traditional brine assets. DLE technologies can generally be classified into four broad categories, though some adopt a combined approach:</span><br/></p><p><span style="text-wrap: wrap;"><br/></span></p><p><img src="/upload/image/2023-10/1698575809198729.png" title="1698575809198729.png" alt="Picture4.png"/></p><p><span style="text-wrap: wrap;"><br/></span></p><p><br/></p> <p>DLE companies often self-claim to be able to solve all four abovementioned issues, but in reality, we witness these prevailing technologies having one or more shortcomings:</p><p><br/></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/upload/image/2023-10/1698576165230186.png" title="1698576165230186.png" alt="Picture5.png"/></p><p><br/></p><p>Therefore, successful DLE stories are often sporadic small-scale LCE production on salt lakes previously impossible to produce, or marginal improvements to supplement existing evaporation pond operations.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not surprisingly, we are yet to witness any commercial success in processing Li brine feedstocks of &lt;200ppm.</p><p><br/></p>