Water company Gradiant said its lithium business alkaLi plans to build and operate a commercial lithium production facility using oilfield produced water in the Marcellus Shale, the company said June 24.
The facility will be the world’s first to extract, concentrate and convert lithium in a fully integrated, end-to-end process from oilfield produced water, according to Gradiant. Having secured a long-term offtake agreement with a U.S. battery manufacturer, Gradiant said it aims to begin commercial production of battery-grade lithium by 2026.
Gradiant said alkaLi’s EC2 platform, which utilizes direct lithium extraction, has already proven key benchmarks that include 97% lithium recovery from produced water and 99.5% purity for battery-grade lithium carbonate.
“We now have a fully operational lithium production asset in the U.S. that proves what EC² can deliver,” said Anurag Bajpayee, CEO of Gradiant. “This isn’t a concept—it’s a live facility demonstrating that clean, domestic lithium production is both viable and scalable.”
AlkaLi has signed a multiyear offtake agreement to supply up to 5,000 metric tonnes annually of battery-grade lithium carbonate to a U.S. lithium-ion battery manufacturer for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, the company said. The offtaker has not been named.
“Our goal isn’t to compete with customers, but to empower them—and the broader industry—to meet surging demand for battery-grade lithium and accelerate the clean energy transition,” Bajpayee added. “This strategic investment in the Marcellus Shale, which could supply 50% of U.S. lithium demand, validates the maturity of alkaLi’s technology and secures a long-term domestic supply.”