EnergyX commissioned the first US direct lithium extraction plant in Texas; Rio Tinto and Eramet are running commercial DLE in Argentina

Summary

EnergyX commissioned Project Lonestar on March 26, 2026, in Hooks, Texas, at the TexAmericas Center, making it the first commercial-operating direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant on US soil. The facility processes Smackover Formation brine using EnergyX's proprietary GET-Lit adsorption technology, recovering over 90% of available Lithium per pass against 30-40% recovery rates in conventional Chilean solar evaporation operations. At $30 million for a 250-tonne-per-year demonstration unit, Lonestar is a proof-of-commercial-concept ahead of a Phase 1 scale-up to 12,500 tpa and a five-year target of 50,000 tpa. The Smackover Formation, a brine-bearing sedimentary layer stretching from Arkansas through Texas, is estimated to hold enough lithium for tens of millions of EV batteries annually. EnergyX and Wildcat Discovery Technologies announced a joint venture in April to co-locate a 15,000 tpa LFP cathode manufacturing facility using Lonestar feedstock, creating a vertically integrated FEOC-compliant battery-materials chain. Globally, Rio Tinto and Eramet are running commercial adsorption-based DLE in Argentina; Albemarle filed a $3.1 billion DLE environmental review in Chile targeting near-double brine recovery rates. The global DLE market is valued at $1.54 billion in 2026 and forecast at $5.72 billion by 2036.

The split

DLE proponents, including EnergyX, cite the 90%+ recovery rate, minimal water consumption, and smaller land footprint versus evaporation ponds as transformative advantages, enabling brine sources previously uneconomic (including oilfield wastewater) to become lithium feedstock. Sceptics, including some Atacama-region producers, argue that adsorption-based DLE has not yet demonstrated reliability at scale for years-long operation, and that lithium recovery rates from low-concentration Smackover brines may fall short of demonstration yields. The LFP cathode JV with Wildcat reflects an industry logic: DLE lithium needs a nearby, captive market to justify small-scale plants before pipeline-scale commercial production is viable. Albemarle's Chilean DLE filing, which claims to return 90% of processed brine to the Atacama salt flat, is framed partly as a social licence argument in Chile, where brine depletion is a political flashpoint.

By the numbers

• 250 tpa, Project Lonestar's demonstration output at Hooks, Texas.
• $30 million, Project Lonestar capital cost.
• 12,500 tpa, EnergyX Phase 1 commercial-scale target.
• 50,000 tpa, five-year commercial target.
• 90%+, lithium recovery rate using GET-Lit adsorption vs. 30-40% in conventional evaporation.
• 15,000 tpa, planned LFP cathode facility in the EnergyX-Wildcat JV.
• $3.1 billion, Albemarle's Chile DLE environmental review capital estimate.
• $1.54 billion, DLE market value in 2026 (IDTechEx); $5.72 billion forecast by 2036.

Why it matters

The shift from solar evaporation to DLE technology would fundamentally reshape the Lithium supply map, unlocking oilfield brines in the US, Europe, and Asia as viable feedstock. US energy security policy under the IRA and the Trump minerals agenda both favour domestic lithium sources; a Smackover brine operation that delivers FEOC-compliant lithium at scale addresses the IRA's foreign entity of concern restrictions directly, where Chilean or Australian spodumene often does not. Chile's DLE adoption by Albemarle is equally significant: if DLE can double recovery rates in the Atacama without depleting the brine layer, it addresses the central political challenge in Chilean lithium governance and could delay the push for Codelco to accelerate the SQM joint-venture volume target.

What to watch

• Project Lonestar's Phase 1 scale-up timeline and whether yields from Smackover brine match demonstration recoveries.
• Albemarle's Chilean DLE environmental review outcome, and whether Chile's COREMA approves the $3.1 billion project.
• Rio Tinto and Eramet Argentine DLE operational data as they move from first-commercial to sustained throughput.
• EnergyX-Wildcat LFP cathode JV: whether the facility qualifies under IRA Section 45X and secures US offtake agreements.