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Geothermal lithium projects recover lithium from hot, deep brine already brought to the surface for geothermal power, usually using direct lithium extraction (DLE). Conventional salar brine operations typically concentrate brine in large evaporation ponds before further processing. The geothermal route can avoid those pond fields and combine lithium recovery with electricity generation, but its water use, costs and environmental performance depend on the specific project—and commercial-scale results remain limited.
What is different about the two operations?
The key difference is not simply that both processes start with brine. They use brine from different settings and organize the work differently. A geothermal project circulates hot water from a deep reservoir to the surface for energy production, then may treat some of that brine in a lithium-recovery circuit. A conventional salar operation typically pumps lithium-bearing brine into a series of shallow ponds, where solar evaporation concentrates it over time before chemical processing.
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In geothermal operations, lithium is dissolved in subsurface reservoir brine; at California’s Salton Sea, for example, it is not extracted from the lake’s surface water. The existing geothermal system and the mineral-recovery circuit are related but distinct: a plant’s electricity capacity does not tell you how much lithium it can produce.
| Comparison | Geothermal brine with DLE | Conventional salar brine with evaporation ponds |
|---|---|---|
| Feedstock and setting | Hot brine from a deep geothermal reservoir, brought to the surface in a geothermal operation; electricity may be a co-product. | Lithium-bearing brine from a salar, commonly developed primarily as a mineral operation. |
| Typical recovery route | Brine conditioning, selective lithium recovery, purification and, in the generalized geothermal model, return of treated brine to the reservoir. | Solar evaporation in a sequence of ponds, followed by chemical processing into a lithium product. |
| Land use | DOE and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory describe a smaller footprint than other mining approaches; each project still requires wells, facilities and supporting infrastructure. | Large pond areas are characteristic of the conventional pond-based route. |
| Water | A 2023 DOE/LBNL fact sheet reports 99% less water per ton than current lithium-mining processes; DOE says full-scale DLE water use is not yet confidently estimated. | Water effects vary with site hydrology, process, climate and accounting boundary; the cited sources do not establish one universal value. |
| Time and recovery | DOE says DLE can take less time and achieve higher recovery, but performance depends on the brine and the specific technology. | Pond concentration is time-intensive; results depend on brine chemistry and pond and process management. |
| Commercial maturity | Multiple DLE approaches remain in demonstration or scale-up; ATLiS is a planned U.S. commercial-scale project, not verified production. | Evaporation-pond operations are an established commercial process in several salar settings, though site practices vary. |
“Conventional brine” is not one universal design. Some newer brine projects are testing DLE, and not every non-geothermal brine operation relies on evaporation ponds. Conversely, DLE is not synonymous with geothermal lithium: it is a family of recovery methods that can be applied to different brines.
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How geothermal lithium extraction works
1. Bring geothermal brine to the surface
A geothermal facility circulates hot brine from a deep reservoir for energy production. The brine contains dissolved minerals, including lithium in some locations. The lithium circuit is integrated with this operation, but it needs its own treatment and recovery equipment. A geothermal plant’s megawatt capacity describes electricity generation, not lithium production.
2. Remove or manage interfering minerals
Geothermal brines can contain high concentrations of salts and minerals that interfere with selective lithium recovery. DOE’s generalized Salton Sea process description includes pretreatment to remove impurities such as silica and iron. Solids and residual streams must be managed; extracting the target mineral is only one part of the facility’s process.
3. Selectively capture lithium
DLE covers a range of processes rather than a single standardized machine. DOE’s generalized description identifies options including adsorbent beads, electrochemical separation, electrodialysis, and membrane or filtration steps. The exact combination depends on the technology and the chemistry of the brine. A process that works with one feedstock cannot be assumed to perform identically with another.
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4. Separate and purify the product
After lithium is captured, it must be separated from the recovery medium or stream and further purified into a battery chemical. The extraction step alone does not produce a saleable battery-grade product. Product specifications, purification steps and the amount of reagent or energy required are project- and process-specific.
5. Return treated brine and manage side streams
DOE describes the remaining brine as being reinjected into the geothermal reservoir. Reinjection is central to the geothermal concept, but it does not by itself prove that an operation has no environmental effects. Operators still need to manage pressure and reservoir performance, monitor reinjection, and account for residual brine, removed solids and chemical inputs. A project’s actual flowsheet may include side streams not captured by a generalized process description.
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How conventional pond operations concentrate brine
In a typical salar route, operators pump lithium-bearing brine into a sequence of broad, shallow evaporation ponds. Sun and dry conditions evaporate water, concentrating the brine in stages; the resulting material is then chemically processed into lithium products. The approach depends on suitable climate, brine chemistry, residence time and extensive pond infrastructure.
That design has a different set of constraints from geothermal DLE. Land is needed for the pond field, and the time required for concentration depends on local evaporation conditions and the operation’s process design. Water impacts also depend on the site’s hydrology and on what is counted: brine pumped, water consumed, water lost to evaporation, and water used in downstream steps are not interchangeable measures. A valid comparison needs a clear boundary and projects with comparable conditions.
Because some non-geothermal brine projects are also exploring DLE, the useful comparison is between the actual process routes—not a blanket division in which every salar operation has ponds and every DLE project is geothermal.
Land, water and environmental performance
Land: no pond field does not mean no footprint
DOE and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory characterize DLE as having a smaller footprint than other lithium-mining approaches, and a geothermal recovery circuit can avoid the extensive evaporation-pond field that defines the conventional salar route. But a project still needs wells, pipelines, treatment equipment, product-processing buildings, roads, utilities and space to handle residuals.
For scale, documents for the proposed ATLiS project describe a site of roughly 79 acres and about 730,000 square feet of buildings. Those figures describe that project’s proposed site and facilities, not a typical footprint for all geothermal DLE projects. They also illustrate why “smaller than a pond field” should not be mistaken for “no land use.”
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Water: distinguish a comparison from a measured project outcome
A 2023 DOE/LBNL fact sheet reports that DLE uses 99% less water per ton of lithium than current lithium-mining processes. That is a broad comparison attributed to the fact sheet, not a guarantee that every geothermal project will achieve that result under a project-specific accounting method.
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DOE’s geothermal FAQ explicitly cautions that commercial-scale water consumption is difficult to estimate because there is not yet enough data about which processes will be used and how they will perform at commercial scale. That caveat matters: pilot or process-level expectations do not establish a full facility’s water balance. A project assessment should separate water associated with existing geothermal electricity production from incremental water consumed by lithium extraction and from construction-related water use.
The Salton Sea itself is another distinct issue. DOE says geothermal facilities do not draw water from the lake or affect its level; the lithium is in deep geothermal reservoir brine. That statement about the lake does not settle questions about a project’s separate water demand, local environmental effects or resource management.
Emissions and residuals: assess the full system
DOE/LBNL’s 2023 fact sheet says DLE emits almost no carbon dioxide. Treat that as an attributed broad assessment, not proof that every project has zero lifecycle emissions. The result can depend on the electricity supply, chemical inputs, construction, transport and the boundaries used for downstream conversion. High-salinity brine treatment also involves impurity removal, solids and residual streams that need to be addressed alongside product recovery.
Reinjection can return treated brine to the reservoir, but it should be considered with monitoring and reservoir management rather than presented as a standalone guarantee of negligible impact. Permitting, coordination among agencies, community concerns and how mineral processing fits alongside existing geothermal operations also shape whether a technically promising project can proceed.
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What the Salton Sea figures do—and do not—mean
The Salton Sea region is a prominent geothermal lithium prospect because geothermal plants already bring brine to the surface and the area has substantial estimated lithium resources. DOE and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s November 2023 fact sheet gives several figures, but they refer to different things and should not be collapsed into a single production estimate.
| Figure | What it describes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| 400 MW | Existing geothermal electricity capacity in the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area, according to DOE/LBNL (2023). | Lithium recovery capacity or annual lithium output. |
| 21,500 tons per year | Estimated lithium contained in brine at the existing 400 MW capacity, according to DOE/LBNL (2023); the fact sheet says it was not then being recovered. | Saleable lithium product, actual recovery or current production. |
| Up to 2,950 MW | Potential geothermal electricity capacity for the region, according to DOE/LBNL (2023), dependent on technology advances and additional geothermal development. | Existing capacity or a guaranteed build-out. |
| 760 ktons accessible; 2,600 ktons proven; 3,400 ktons probable | Separate lithium resource categories reported by DOE/LBNL (2023). | A single reserve figure, annual production or a guarantee that the resource will be extracted economically. |
Resource potential, lithium passing through a geothermal plant, planned nameplate capacity and verified saleable production are different measures. Moving from one to another requires recovery performance, purification, reliable operations and a viable project—not simply a large resource estimate.
What is the commercial status of geothermal DLE?
ATLiS is planned, not a record of production
On January 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office announced a conditional commitment to SPV ESM ATLiS LLC, a subsidiary of EnergySource Minerals, for a direct loan of up to $1.36 billion to build a facility in Imperial County, California. DOE described planned output of up to 20,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide annually and called it the first U.S. commercial-scale DLE plant. The project uses proprietary ILiAD technology and is designed to return lithium-depleted brine for reinjection.
Those are project plans and an expected capacity, not evidence of commissioned equipment or annual product already made. In March 2025, DOE published the final environmental assessment and signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). DOE’s notice stated: “The Finding of No Significant Impact should not be construed as a final decision about issuance of a federal loan.” A FONSI is an environmental-review finding; it is not the same as a final loan decision or proof of commercial operation.
Different DLE technologies are at different stages
The label “DLE” does not identify a single maturity level. In September 2026, DOE listed a University of Virginia project using an electro-sorption/electromembrane process at technology readiness level 3, with work intended to advance it to TRL 5 by December 2026. Those levels describe that project’s technology-development stage, not geothermal DLE as a whole. The example shows why progress on one process should not be treated as evidence that every DLE approach is ready for commercial deployment.
Economics: promising figures are not project guarantees
Geothermal lithium has a potential integration advantage: the site may already produce electricity from the geothermal resource, while lithium recovery adds a mineral product to the operation. Whether that improves project economics depends on the cost and reliability of the extraction circuit, the amount and quality of product recovered, treatment and reinjection requirements, construction, and the existing power operation. Co-location alone does not establish profitable production.
A 2021 National Renewable Energy Laboratory techno-economic assessment reported expected production cost near $4,000 per metric ton of lithium carbonate equivalent in the projects it reviewed. This is a historical modeled assessment, not a current market quote, a guaranteed Salton Sea cost, or necessarily a cost for ATLiS lithium hydroxide. The product basis matters: lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) is a standardized comparison unit and is not interchangeable with a quoted mass of lithium hydroxide.
For investors, policymakers or communities evaluating a particular proposal, the decision-useful evidence is project-specific: construction and financing status, demonstrated recovery and product quality, operating availability, reagent and energy consumption, water balance, residuals handling, reinjection performance, and independently verifiable costs. Resource estimates and planned capacity are useful context, but do not substitute for that operating record.
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Claims such as “less water,” “higher recovery” or “smaller footprint” need to specify the projects, process boundaries and metric being compared. A sound comparison should ask:
- Are the feedstocks comparable in lithium concentration, salinity and impurity profile?
- Does the water figure count only extraction, or also the geothermal power plant, construction and downstream processing?
- Is the land estimate for the recovery facility alone, or does it include wells, roads, pipelines and supporting infrastructure?
- Does the recovery rate refer to lithium captured from brine, or final saleable product after purification?
- Are power and reagent requirements measured across the full process, including brine conditioning and product conversion?
- Are residuals, removed solids, brine reinjection and monitoring included in the environmental assessment?
- Does the figure represent a modeled design, a demonstration, planned nameplate capacity or verified commercial production?
These questions prevent a resource estimate or a laboratory result from being mistaken for the performance of an operating plant. They also make comparisons useful across routes: conventional ponds and geothermal DLE have different inputs and infrastructure, so the fairest unit is a clearly defined amount of qualified lithium product under stated conditions—not a generic label for either technology.
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