Project Traits
State: North Dakota
Congressional District: ND00
Organization Type: Commercial
Partner Organization(s) Type: None or Unknown
Energy Sector: Waste and Materials Management, Critical Minerals
Energy Subsector: Oil & Gas, Lithium
Project Start Year: Unknown
Project Launch Year: Unknown
Government Support Received: State Grant [North Dakota Industial Commission Grant to Wellspring Hydro] for $500,000
Outcomes & Impacts
Private Investment: Unknown
Jobs Announced or Created: Unknown
People Served: Unknown
Projected Economic Impact: Unknown
An unwanted byproduct of North Dakota’s oil field could be the key to unlocking a new industry in the state within the next few years.
An international company is proposing to begin extracting lithium, a key component of batteries produced for smartphones and other technology, from produced water by the end of 2027. It’s one of at least four similar projects in development in the state.
Lithium Harvest, a Denmark-based company with a presence in the United States, is partnering with an unnamed oil company to construct two lithium extraction facilities in western North Dakota. The facilities will process produced water, the salt water that comes to the surface with crude oil, according to co-founder Paw Juul.
Lithium Harvest’s technology allows the company to construct small extraction facilities in under two years, he said.
The company proposes to build the facilities on the same site as saltwater disposal wells, where produced water, also called brine, from oil wells in the area is already transported by pipelines to a central point for disposal underground.