The world's lithium industry is interested in testing out Argentina's salt flats.

July 10, Reuters, SALAR CENTENARIO, Argentinia - Salty brine drawn from deep below the earth's surface fills a large tank two floors high with black tubes in a dusty plain in the mountains of northern Argentina.The brine contains lithium, a silvery white metal that is in great demand as the globe moves toward renewable energy sources and is necessary for producing batteries for electric vehicles. In an effort to generate lithium with less water and more efficiency, direct lithium extraction, or DLE, is a novel process that French miner Eramet (ERMT.PA) is attempting to adopt.

In contrast to conventional techniques, there are no football-field-sized brine pools left behind when the liquid evaporates in the sun, containing lithium. Since that 70% of the lithium in the world is contained in brine rather than rock or clay, DLE, which extracts the metal significantly more quickly, may be essential to worldwide supply. Rivals from Chile to the United States who are also attempting to commercialize DLE are keeping a close eye on Eramet. By November, it hopes to produce its first ton of lithium carbonate, and by mid-2025, it hopes to reach 24,000 metric tons annually.