After several years as an innovator in lithium production, Gradiant announced the launch of a new business – alkaLi. This business will be focused on working with junior and major lithium producers to improve the reliability and sustainability of their lithium production operations. Prakash Govindan, Gradiant’s COO, met with GWI recently to discuss the background behind the decision to expand Gradiant’s focus on the entire lithium brine production flow sheet.

On Gradiant’s Core Competencies in Water Treatment

“Very much part of the proprietary know-how for Gradiant and why we can develop an end-to-end solution is the pretreatment piece,” Gradiant COO Prakash Govindan told GWI. “Each of the components of Extract, Concentrate, and Convert (EC2) is used in water treatment operations, so we can leverage our legacy of innovation and engineering expertise to optimize the whole DLE process.”

On alkaLi’s Plans for Growth in Lithium Brine Production

“We have written a series of patents in combining the different techniques to maximize lithium recovery and minimize cost and energy consumption,” said Govindan. “We can use our AI Smart Ops  solution to combine them synergistically to tap into the advantages of each DLE type.” The technology portfolio includes proprietary ion exchange resins, CFRO, and downstream crystallization unit operations, to create the industry’s only all-in-one solution engineered to extract, concentrate, and convert battery-grade lithium.

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