Northern Lithium is a privately-owned UK critical minerals development company based in County Durham, established to deliver a secure, sustainable, domestic supply of lithium. Managing Director Nick Pople explained to Hannah Barnett how the company will soon be fulfilling a vital role in the UK economy.
Following successful testing in 2023, with >99.5% purity battery grade lithium carbonate delivered at pilot scale, a further key milestone was reached during trials between January and April 2025, when the UK’s first in-field 1:15 demonstration scale DLE unit went into operation.
Using Evove’s advanced nanofiltration membrane-based DLE technology, the companies were able to pull off the recent trials successfully and demonstrated 92% end-to-end recovery rates and 96.5% purity of lithium chloride/sulphate products produced. Evove’s technology, which removes nearly all impurities at the start of the DLE process, has demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce typical Capex and Opex costs. Evove has now analysed 87 brines from 13 countries, and Northern Lithium’s brines are amongst the cleanest and easiest to process.
“With Evove, we have a collaborative approach, rather than just a consultant’s approach,” Managing Director Nick Pople explained. “We are co-developing DLE techniques. Ours were the first brines to be put through the Evove pilot plant, and we aim to be the first commercial plant running with Evove technology. That has come from working together in partnership. Ultimately, we are aligned towards a domestic lithium solution powered by UK technology.”
Since successfully delivering its demo-scale DLE trials earlier this year, Northern Lithium announced in October a strategic partnership with Evove and the Kurita Group, securing the next key steps towards delivering its long-term production targets. Utilising Evove’s DLE technology and Kurita’s renowned water treatment solutions expertise, detailed design engineering is now underway, with delivery of an initial commercial scale lithium production unit expected by the end of 2027.
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