Occidental Petroleum Corporation and BHE Renewables announced they formed a joint venture for the demonstration and deployment of TerraLithium?s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) and associated technologies to extract and commercially produce high-purity lithium compounds from geothermal brine. TerraLithium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental, has patented DLE technologies that have the potential to process any lithium-containing brine into a responsibly sourced supply of high-purity lithium. BHE Renewables operates 10 geothermal power plants in California?s Imperial Valley, which process 50,000 gallons of lithium-rich brine per minute to produce 345 megawatts of clean energy.

The joint venture has begun a project at BHE Renewables? Imperial Valley geothermal facility to demonstrate the feasibility of using the TerraLithium DLE technology to produce lithium in an environmentally safe manner. Upon successful demonstration, BHE Renewables plans to build, own and operate commercial lithium production facilities in California?s Imperial Valley.

The joint venture also plans to license the technology and develop commercial lithium production facilities outside the Imperial Valley.