EnergyX US manufacturing phase: membrane scale-up and lithium project lens
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) has commissioned one of North America’s largest roll-to-roll membrane production machines at its Austin, Texas plant, enabling industrial-scale output of up to 500,000 m² per year of ion exchange membranes for its GET-Lit lithium separation systems. The in-house line reduces dependence on overseas membrane suppliers and underpins EnergyX’s Lonestar lithium project in southwest Arkansas, as well as its move into nuclear-grade lithium isotopes for fusion and fission. The same proprietary membranes target desalination, carbon capture and electrodialysis markets projected at US$7.5 billion by 2035.
Technical Brief
- Roll-to-roll line is installed at EnergyX’s Austin, Texas advanced materials facility, now operational.
- Commissioning shifts critical membrane process manufacturing from overseas into a US-based, controlled supply chain.
- In-house production targets consumable membranes that are the limiting component in EnergyX’s lithium recovery flowsheets.
- Vertical integration strategy is explicitly aimed at shortening membrane lead times and reducing supplier concentration risk.
- Same membrane platform is being engineered for desalination, carbon capture and advanced industrial manufacturing applications.
Our Take
EnergyX’s move into US manufacturing for lithium systems sits alongside its NUKE-it lithium isotope platform in our database, signalling a strategy to span both bulk lithium extraction (e.g. Smackover brines in southwest Arkansas) and high-spec nuclear-grade lithium products.
The projected US$7.5 billion ion exchange membrane and electrodialysis systems market by 2035 positions the Austin, Texas facility as a potential supplier not just to lithium brine projects like Lonestar, but also to broader water and chemical processing clients, which can help smooth mining-cycle volatility.
Among recent lithium-tagged mining pieces, there are relatively few US-based brine projects compared with hard-rock coverage, so a Smackover lithium plant in the United States adds a domestic brine-processing reference point that OEMs and battery makers looking to localise supply chains will watch closely.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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