The wastewater was processed at the Kendra II Plant based in Springville, Susquehanna County.
[On June 25, Marcellus Drilling News reported Gradiant announced that its lithium business, alkaLi, will design, build, own, and operate a commercial lithium production facility in the Marcellus Shale Formation of Pennsylvania at a plant near Montrose, Susquehanna County. Read more here.]
Shale wastewater and solids analyses from the pilot test were sent to Montrose Environmental Group, an independent environmental testing services in Calgary.
A draft report confirming that the ACCELi (Accelerated Chemical Cavitation Extraction of Lithium) process performed as intended, yielding lithium phosphate solids with a purity of 94.2%.
The third and final test run achieved a lithium recovery rate of 69.3%. The average concentration of lithium taken from the source tank across the three batch runs was 243mg/l.
Dr. Ian Hutcheon, Director of Rain and Professor Emeritus of Geochemistry at the University of Calgary said, "The performance of the ACCELi system in this pilot test provides a significant step forward to the development of a commercial lithium extraction facility in Pennsylvania.
“The future potential of ACCELi in Chile and Argentina, where scarce water resources require a process that has very low or no additional freshwater requirements, has been clearly demonstrated in our pilot test which is of particular importance as we move towards developing our presence in South America."
Benjamin Hill, CEO of Rain commented, "From executing an earn in agreement to successfully concluding our first in-field pilot plant test within a year Rain and Avonlea join the few DLE companies that have tested their technology on real brines in-situ.
“We believe ACCELi to be the only DLE technology that can deal with the variable brine chemistry characteristics (in this case from the Marcellus Shale) in real time having successfully processed brine sourced from different areas with different compositions during the Pennsylvania field test.
“Having had our technology and results scrutinized and validated by industry experts, we maintain our high levels of comfort in the ACCELi process and patented Cavitek technology.
“We are obviously very pleased to see Montrose corroborate our findings and that even with a lower concentration of lithium in the brine we were ultimately able to achieve both a high recovery rate and purity of lithium phosphate along with immediately saleable by-products from the process.
“Following the completion of the pilot test at Kendra II's Springville WMG 123 Facility, Kendra II have agreed in principle to enter into an arrangement to jointly work to commercially develop ACCELi Cavitek plants at their facilities across Pennsylvania".
Click Here for a copy of the Avonlea Lithium announcement.
Resource Links:
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Successful Lithium From Shale Gas Wastewater Test At Susquehanna County Plant [PDF of Article]
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - June 28 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 81 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In June 28 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- 5 Years Later: A Progress Report On PA’s Grand Jury Recommendations For Protecting Public Health, Communities From Shale Gas Industry Impacts - A Long Way To Go [PaEN]
-- DEP Reports It Has No Idea How Many Shale Gas Water/Wastewater Pipelines There Are, The Spills They’ve Had Or Their Impacts [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension Hosts July 23 Webinar On Understanding Pennsylvania's Legacy Conventional Oil & Gas Well Problem [PaEN]
-- DEP Sets 8th Hearing July 22 On State Plan To Implement Federal Rule Requiring Methane Emissions Reductions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Facilities [PaEN]
-- Range Resources Proposes To Drill 2 New Shale Gas Wells In Cecil Township, Challenging Its 2,500 Foot Setback Ordinance In Washington County [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension Hosts Aug. 20 Webinar On Oil & Gas Development Impacts On Groundwater Quality, Public Health [PaEN]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Integrated Lithium Production Plant Coming To PA In 2026 Using Oil & Gas Production Wastewater [PaEN]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Avonlea Lithium Corp. Completes Successful Lithium Extraction From Shale Gas Wastewater At Susquehanna County Pilot Plant [PaEN]
-- DEP Seeking New Member Of Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board [PaEN]
-- Westmoreland-Based WATT Fuel Cell, Hope Gas In WV Launch Home Natural Gas Fuel Cell Backup Power Program To Strengthen Electric Grid Resiliency [PaEN]
-- Environmental Council Of The States Reports US Senate Budget Bill Removes Repeal Of 23 Inflation Reduction Act Climate/Energy Programs; But Still Rescinds Unobligated Oil & Gas Well Plugging Funds [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: A State Grand Jury Report On Fracking Had 8 Recommendations, 5 Years Later, Few Have Been Implemented
-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: 5 Years After Landmark PA Grand Jury Report On Fracking, Public Health Goals Remain Largely Unmet, Groups Say
-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: Boots And Drones Deployed In Hunt For Orphan Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Southwest PA
-- Inside Climate News: Kiley Bense: Truckers Say Oil & Gas Companies Are Violating Hazardous Materials Transport Regulations, Fracking Industry Says No
-- Post-Gazette - Brandon McGinley: July 15 PA Energy & Innovation Summit Will Be The Biggest Day For Pittsburgh In Decades
-- Public News Services: Congress Could Delay Oil & Gas Facility Methane Emission Reduction Program In PA
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Largest Fuel Cell Backup Program In US Rolling Out In WV Marcellus [PDF of Article]
-- PA Lawmakers, Labor, Natural Gas Companies Sent Letter To Governor, House/Senate Members To Celebrate Natural Gas & Oil Day To Prioritize Oil, Gas Resources
-- Observer-Reporter: Decreasing Act 13 Shale Gas Drilling Impact Fee Money Squeezing Municipal Budgets; 2nd Lowest Revenue Generated Since Program Began In 2012 [PDF of Article]
-- Uniontown Herald-Standard Editorial: Jeers - Act 13 Shale Gas Drilling Impact Fee Dropped To 2nd Lowest Amount Since Distribution Began - Municipalities Can’t Rely On It [PDF of Article]
-- PA Capital-Star: PA Act 13 Shale Gas Impact Fee Revenue Drops
-- Williamsport Sun: Lycoming County Receives $6.9 Million In Act 13 Shale Gas Drilling Impact Fees; $25.1 Million In Sen. Yaw’s Senate District
-- Williamsport Sun Editorial: Act 13 Shale Gas Drilling Impact Fee Just Part Of Gas Industry’s Success
-- PA Lawmakers, Labor, Natural Gas Companies Sent Letter To Governor, House/Senate Members To Celebrate Natural Gas & Oil Day To Prioritize Oil, Gas Resources
-- Range Resources Reports It Achieved Net Zero In Scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions In 2024
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: EQT Shale Gas Company Achieved Net Zero Scope 1 & 2 Emissions In Its Assets Owned In 2024
-- The Allegheny Front/WV Public Broadcasting: Residents Near Mountain Valley Natural Gas Pipeline Are Still Uneasy
[Posted: June 28, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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