Volt Lithium's Bakken Expansion Taps into North America's Richest Lithium Brine Reserves

The lithium extraction landscape is shifting as Volt Lithium takes a significant step into North Dakota’s Bakken Basin with its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. Scheduled for commissioning in June 2025, this deployment marks a strategic pivot toward capturing value from underutilized brine resources across America’s most productive oil regions.

Why Bakken Changes the Game: The Lithium Concentration Advantage

While the Permian Basin generates approximately 19 million barrels of produced water daily with average lithium concentrations around 30 ppm, internal laboratory testing reveals a striking advantage in Bakken brines—reaching 90 ppm, nearly triple the grade. This translates to dramatically different production economics: Bakken’s 1.6 to 2 million barrels of daily brine output could yield approximately 50,000 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) annually, compared to Permian’s projected 170,000 tpa output spread across a vastly larger operational footprint.

The higher concentration fundamentally changes the extraction equation, reducing processing volumes needed to achieve equivalent lithium yields.

Technology Proven, Now Proving Scalability

Volt Lithium has already demonstrated operational capability in the Permian Basin, deploying North America’s largest active DLE system by February 2025—processing over 10,000 barrels of produced water daily. The Bakken unit represents the next validation phase: proving the modular technology adapts across different geological conditions and brine chemistries without sacrificing efficiency.

This matters because the company’s competitive edge rests on one core advantage: a proprietary extraction compound designed specifically for oilfield brines, integrated directly into existing salt-water disposal infrastructure rather than requiring greenfield development.

Capital and Operational Economics: The Partnership Model Advantage

Traditional lithium extraction demands significant capital for new wells, land acquisition, and pipeline networks. Volt’s approach differs fundamentally—by integrating with existing oilfield infrastructure through partnerships, the company eliminates these costs while tapping into continuous streams of lithium-rich brine already being managed as part of daily operations.

For the Bakken expansion, this partnership approach is being facilitated through collaboration with Wellspring Hydro, supported by US$2.5 million in combined funding from North Dakota’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority and Renewable Energy Program—effectively turning the state into a stakeholder in the technology’s success.

From Lab to Field: The Scaling Trajectory

Volt Lithium’s journey from laboratory-scale production in 2024 to a 10,000 barrel-per-day Permian system within six months demonstrates rapid deployment capability. The Bakken mobile unit extends this momentum, with the company already building inventory of lithium chloride from Permian operations and converting it to battery-grade lithium carbonate—distributing samples to potential offtake partners to validate commercial specifications.

Market Positioning: Dual-Basin Dominance

With operational presence in both the Permian and Bakken—representing over 60% of total U.S. onshore oil production—Volt Lithium now controls access to two distinct market segments. The Permian offers volume at moderate concentrations; the Bakken offers higher-grade concentrations in a second-largest brine-producing basin. This geographic and geological diversification positions the company uniquely to capture value from multiple market structures simultaneously.

The Bakken deployment, launching in the second half of June 2025, will host government representatives, state senators, industry stakeholders, and investors for site visits during both commissioning and operational phases—effectively turning the deployment into both a commercial validation and a political endorsement of the technology’s viability for critical mineral supply in North America.