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With the theme "Geothermal lithium: dream or reality?", the international event "Groundwater, Key to the Sustainable Development Goals" is dedicated to various aspects of the extraction of lithium from deep geothermal fluids in Europe

Currently, the co-production of lithium from deep geothermal plants is being discussed worldwide and has already been implemented locally on a pilot basis. Especially in the field of electro vehicles, the demand for lithium is increasing rapidly. In Europe, there are well identified exploitable resources for lithium in the Upper Rhine Graben from Alsace in France to Germany near Mannheim where the deep geothermal brines reveal lithium contents up to 200 mg/L.

On December 01, 2021, an information exchange on the topic of geothermal lithium took place within the framework of the German Geothermal Congress GGC 2021.

The first general meeting was successfully held on November 26, 2021. Due to the pandemic situation, the project partners came together digitally and presented the results of the UnLimited project so far. Since the start of the project in December 2020, relevant outcomes have already been achieved in the individual work packages.

Pure lithium is very reactive in air. It is therefore produced and processed in the form of various lithium salts. Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide dominate here, but also lithium chloride. Due to the different densities of these compounds, the term "lithium carbonate equivalent" (LCE) was introduced for better comparability.

BGR is coordinating an interdisciplinary research network to develop the basis for a raw material strategy for lithium extraction from thermal water in Germany. The client of the "Li+Fluids" project is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

Read everything worth knowing about the investigations in the UnLimited project in the new flyer.

In its TV report of Sept. 10, 2021, the 3sat science magazine NANO reports on the possibilities of lithium extraction in Germany. Of particular importance: lithium extraction from hot deep waters. At the geothermal site in Bruchsal, 125 °C hot geothermal water is extracted from a depth of approximately 2,500 m. The water contains 150 to 200 milliliters of lithium.

On December 1, 2021, a session on geothermal lithium will take place at the GGC. In addition to several speakers, the UnLimited partners EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and Hydrosion GmbH will give presentations on "Lithium for batteries from the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany - The joint project UnLimited" and "Methods of direct Li extraction from thermal water".

In the next Blickpunkt Geothermie webinar (in German) on August, 20th, 2021 Prof. Dr. Jochen Kolb from KIT will give a presentation about the topic "Geothermalwasser als Metallressource: Beispiel Lithium". You can register for free on the Blickpunkt Geothermie site.