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
Direct lithium extraction
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