Compass Minerals is working to re-enter the lithium industry through a collaboration with technology startup EnergyX to harvest the battery metal from Utah’s Great Salt Lake, as demand and pricing for the essential mineral continue climbing amid efforts to increase domestic production.
The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding that, should it move forward, would involve General Motors-backed EnergyX investing over $400 million while deploying its direct lithium extraction technology to pull the metal from the highly saline lake. The Great Salt Lake is believed to hold more than 2.4 million metric tons of lithium reserves.
