University Of Alaska Anchorage: BMW Group And UAA Team Up To Research Sustainable Lithium Extraction

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

May 3, 2021

In the race for automobile manufacturers to sustainably develop electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are the key. To cross the finish line, the BMW Group has invited
UAA geological sciences professor LeeAnn Munk, Ph.D., along for the ride.

As Earth’s lightest metal, lithium is used in several manufacturing applications including
ceramics and glass. But what lithium is more known for is its role in the production
of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are extremely desirable because of
their high recharge capacity and the fact that they provide a stable source of power.

Two-thirds of the world’s lithium reserves are found in Latin America. However, there
is a lack of scientific research into how lithium extraction impacts the region. The
BMW Group intends to fill this gap with the study it had commissioned together with the co-financing partner BASF SE.

Joining Munk as co-principal investigator on the study is David Boutt, Ph.D., University
of Massachusetts Amherst geosciences professor and one of Munk’s frequent collaborators.
Rounding out the team are four Ph.D. students and one undergraduate student.

Munk and her team have been involved in hydrogeochemistry research in North and South
America for over a decade, including the only produced lithium brine in North America
and the Salar de Atacama lithium brine deposit in northern Chile. Munk and her team
have published an array of scientific articles on their work and are now recognized
as global leading experts on lithium brine deposits and more recently are developing
expertise in emerging domestic deposits including clays and oilfield brines. 

“The issues surrounding resource development — both from an environmental perspective
as well as locating, identifying and extracting resources — are important on a global
scale,” said Munk. “The projects I've been involved with here in Alaska revolve around
other types of natural resource extraction — primarily more traditional metals such
as copper and zinc. But the fundamentals of my expertise in geology, geochemistry
and hydrology translate to many mineralized environments on a global scale." 

The focus of the work initiated by BMW Group and BASF SE is focused on investigating
the impacts of lithium extraction on the hydrologic environment in Latin America.
Many of the locations where lithium is extracted from brines occur in arid to hyper-arid
regions. Munk notes this status identifies a greater potential to experience ecosystem
disruption because most of the freshwater in these systems is located underground
and can be as old as 10,000 years, necessitating the need for this project.

Beyond this important sustainability project funded by the auto and battery industries,
the U.S. has recognized the importance of securing a reliable domestic supply chain
of lithium to support the electric vehicle revolution. The type of research Munk leads is at the center of existing and emerging domestic
lithium deposit characterization, which is the starting point of producing these deposits. 

“We have the opportunity to use the best science possible to help provide a basis
for all stakeholders to use to understand these environments and to help companies
make the best decisions about where they source their supply from, so it has global
implications,” said Munk. 

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.