The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has achieved a groundbreaking milestone in the economic diversification process through the extraction of lithium prominently called “white gold” from oil field brines, marking a significant shift from historical dependence on oil towards other natural sources.
The Kingdom’s state-owned petroleum company Saudi Aramco has just completed a pilot project that demonstrates the feasibility of extracting this valuable “white gold” mineral from its current oil fields near the sea.
The extraction project is being conducted in cooperation with Lithium Infinity (Lihytech) – a startup founded based on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden, and Aramco.
Deputy Minister of Mining Affairs of Saudi Arabia Khalid bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer noted that the innovation was discovered at the university.
“They are extracting lithium through the new technology developed in King Abdullah University for Science and Technology. They are in accelerated development in this regard,” Al-Mudaifer said quoted by Reuters.
“They are building a commercial pilot at the oil fields. So the brines that come out of the field will feed into this continuously,” he added.
Strategic economic shift
The discovery aligns with the goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as the country aims to diversify the oil-dependent economy.
The extraction costs presently remain high in comparison to the traditional salt flat techniques, but Al-Mudaifer remains optimistic about the commercial potential of the project as the global demand for lithium continues to grow.
Currently, Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are used to power up almost every electronic gadget from electric cars, laptops, and smartphones, to emergency lights, toys, and pretty every gadget used in daily life.
Future prospects
Other key oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum are also testing lithium extraction technologies pointing to a global shift towards green energy sources. Lithium has been confirmed as an area of interest for Aramco and the company has acknowledged the process of extraction.
This is not only a source of additional revenue but a new history that Saudi Arabia is going to write for itself in the energy segment where the Kingdom will shift from an oil-dependent economy to a technology-driven hub of the world’s energy transformation.
Lithium
Lithium is known as “white gold” because of its silvery-white colour and its value in the market. The metal is the lightest and least dense solid element at room temperature. It’s also highly reactive and flammable.
Lithium is abundant in the Earth’s crust, but it’s spread out very finely. Researchers estimate that there are around 200 billion tonnes of lithium in the world’s oceans, and 98 million metric tons in rocks and salt lakes on land.
