The world's largest lithium producer by volume, US-listed Albemarle operates brine and hard-rock assets across Chile, Australia, and the United States that form the backbone of Western EV battery supply.
Selective lithium recovery from brine without solar evaporation ponds, achieving over 90% yield; the technology reshaping lithium supply in Chile, Argentina, and the US Smackover Formation.
full dossier ›Seven technologies, from high-pressure acid leaching to battery recycling, determine whether refined critical minerals reach EV batteries and magnets from diversified or concentrated sources.
The lightest solid metal and core material in EV and grid-storage batteries; China refines roughly 70% of global output, making lithium the central critical-mineral security flashpoint of the energy transition.
Project Lonestar (250 tpa, Hooks TX) processes Smackover brine using EnergyX's GET-Lit technology; a Wildcat JV will co-locate a 15,000 tpa LFP cathode plant; DLE market is valued at $1.54 billion in 2026
A 200-tonne LCE shipment to Shanghai in March 2026 marked the start of commercial output at Rincon; IFC, IDB Invest, EFA and JBIC co-financed the $1.175B tranche; the 60,000 tpa target is 2029
A March 2026 EPA Record of Decision unblocked North Carolina's first domestic hard-rock lithium production since the 1980s; Albemarle idled Kemerton and filed a $3.1 billion DLE proposal in the Atacama