The existing process, which involves roasting ore/sulfuric acid, came in at just under $9,000 for each usable tonne of lithium. By contrast, they estimate that the new process should only cost a bit over $5,000 per tonne. That’s roughly comparable to the cost of isolation from high-quality brines. If the silicon and aluminum products can also be sold, then the cost of the whole process would drop by over $1,000, making it highly cost-effective. //

So the real world will undoubtedly be more complex than these calculations might suggest. Still, in our increasingly lithium-dependent world, it’s nice to have alternatives in case a serious supply crunch ever does hit.

Plus, it’s pretty neat to see that there’s still room for chemists to rethink large industrial processes.