Altmark Lithium Extraction – Redevelopment of a Historic Brine Resource in Support of EU Raw Material Goals

The Altmark gas field in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, Europe’s second-largest onshore gas field, hosts a lithium-rich deep formation brine previously investigated during the 1970s and 1980s. A first Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot plant was constructed during the late GDR period but never commercialized due to political and market shifts.

With the increasing urgency to develop domestic sources of critical raw materials under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the redevelopment of this historic resource has resumed. The brine reservoir, hosted in the Permian Rotliegend formations, holds average lithium concentrations of >400 mg/l, with peak values of up to 600 mg/l. The estimated in-place resource of 40–50 million tonnes LCE could support sustained production of up to 25 ktpa over multiple decades.

Following renewed exploration and permitting, Germany’s first lithium-from-brine production license was granted in early 2024. Recent pilot tests using ion exchange DLE technology have successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from brine co-produced during gas extraction. A feasibility study is underway, demonstrator production targeted for 2027/28 and early commercial operations by 2029/2030.

Altmark Lithium Extraction demonstrates how legacy hydrocarbon assets can contribute to Europe's raw material security. The project integrates decades of subsurface data with current UNFC-aligned classification efforts to ensure transparent and traceable resource reporting in line with emerging CRMA implementation frameworks.