In a memorandum of understanding signed with Australia’s Anson Resources, POSCO will build and operate a demonstration plant in Green River City, Utah, deploying its proprietary direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. The agreement marks the first instance of a Korean company attempting to extract the key battery metal on U.S. soil.
Under the terms of the partnership, Anson will provide lithium-rich brine feedstock and land access at its concession site, while POSCO will test the commercial feasibility of its DLE technology, which the company has been developing since 2016.
The facility, expected to break ground next year, is designed to validate POSCO’s method for recovering lithium from low-concentration brine — an approach the company says could unlock previously inaccessible reserves and help diversify global supply.
Lithium, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, is currently sourced largely from salt flats in South America and hard rock mines in Australia.
POSCO estimates that as much as 87 percent of the world’s lithium reserves are found in salt lake brines, but conventional extraction methods rely on slow, land-intensive evaporation processes ill-suited for regions like the United States.
POSCO’s technology, by contrast, offers a more compact and potentially faster method of extracting lithium from brines, making it an attractive alternative for resource development in North America, where environmental and regulatory hurdles can hinder large-scale evaporation projects.
The initiative also comes as the Trump administration places renewed emphasis on domestic sourcing of critical minerals. Trump has imposed tariffs on a range of imports, including steel, POSCO’s flagship business, fueling interest among Korean manufacturers in U.S.-based production.
POSCO currently operates lithium operations in Argentina with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons and a 43,000-ton facility in Yulchon, South Korea, that processes spodumene ore. Combined, these sites supply enough lithium hydroxide to power roughly 1.6 million electric vehicles per year.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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