Extracting Lithium from Geothermal Electric Plants

Geothermal Electric plants that provide clean renewable energy 24 hours a day seven days a week also can produce a number of minerals from the geothermal brine. This is being done in a number of plants around the world including the one located in the Salton Sea. Now more research is being directed toward improving these extraction techniques.

Diagram courtesy of Environmental Science and Technology

It is exciting to see that these sorts of minerals can be extracted using the boreholes used by a geothermal plant as well as the power from the same plant. According to Sanford University research, there are many minerals that can be extracted this way such as silica, manganese, zinc, sulphur, and more depending on the location of the geothermal plant.