JordProxa has been announced as the technology and equipment partner for Lilac Solutions, a leading provider of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology for the lithium downstream conversion process at its Phase 1 commercial lithium carbonate facility on Utah’s Great Salt Lake to produce 5,000 tpa of battery-grade lithium carbonate with first lithium production planned for 2028. A Phase 2 expansion would bring total capacity to 20,000 tpa LCE.
JordProxa will supply the technology and equipment package for downstream conversion at the Phase 1 facility, including performance guarantees. The package will convert the lithium sulfate eluate produced by Lilac’s ion exchange (IX) process into battery-grade lithium carbonate through evaporation, carbonation, dissolution, and re-crystallisation.
The agreement follows a period of testing and basic engineering during the FEL-3 project phase, in which JordProxa processed eluate produced directly from Great Salt Lake brine and successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate.
“JordProxa brings deep experience in evaporation and crystallisation technology, and their work during our FEL-3 phase gave us full confidence in their ability to deliver at commercial scale,” said Raef Sully, Chief Executive Officer of Lilac. “This is a critical piece of the project, and we have the right partner in place.”
“The Great Salt Lake is a remarkable resource, and this project demonstrates what becomes possible when innovative DLE technology is paired with proven downstream processing,” said Paul Browne, Managing Director, JordProxa. “We’ve worked closely with the Lilac team through the FEL-3 phase and are confident in the path to producing battery-grade lithium carbonate from this resource at commercial scale.”
Lilac’s Gen 5 IX technology will extract lithium from brine pumped directly from the lake and return the lithium-depleted brine in equal volume, a non-consumptive process that does not lower lake water levels.
In 2025, Lilac completed a seven-month pilot plant on the lake, achieving 87% average lithium recovery on a high sulfate brine containing only 70 mg/L lithium and proving the technology’s ability to economically extract lithium from ultra-low-grade brine. Independent third-party analysis confirmed both technology performance and compliance with Lilac’s non-consumptive and non-contaminating process requirements.
Lilac has now secured the major contractors needed to advance the project toward construction. The project is on track to be among the first U.S. lithium brine projects to reach final investment decision.
The award further strengthens JordProxa’s growing portfolio of lithium and critical minerals processing projects across North America, South America, Europe and Australia, supporting the global transition to secure and sustainable battery material supply chains.
