Compass Minerals is jumping back into the Great Salt Lake lithium race, teaming up with EnergyX in a fresh bid to squeeze battery-grade lithium out of ponds it already runs for potash and magnesium. Under a new memorandum of understanding, the companies are lining up roughly $400 million in planned investment to test membrane-based direct lithium extraction on Compass’s Ogden operation, reviving a project the miner put on ice in 2024 and setting up one of the most closely watched tech trials in the domestic battery supply chain.
Deal details and reporting
According to Reuters, Compass and EnergyX signed a memorandum that would bring EnergyX’s direct lithium extraction systems to Compass’s Ogden ponds on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The agreement envisions EnergyX using membrane-based filtration to pull lithium from the brine that currently feeds Compass’s potash and magnesium business, with EnergyX slated to invest more than $400 million if the plan moves ahead as outlined.
EnergyX's Project Powder Hound
As detailed by EnergyX, the company’s Utah push has a name straight off a backcountry ski map: Project Powder Hound. EnergyX says it would design, build, and operate lithium recovery facilities on the same footprint Compass already uses for solar evaporation, effectively layering lithium capture onto an existing industrial site instead of starting from scratch. The firm describes Project Powder Hound as a two-phase effort that together represents nearly $400 million in capital spending.
A U-turn from 2024
This is a sharp reversal from January 23, 2024, when Compass formally terminated its in-house lithium program, cut members of its lithium team, and recorded an impairment on the abandoned effort, all disclosed in the company’s SEC filings. Even as it stepped back, Compass had repeatedly pointed to what it describes as a significant lithium resource at Ogden, estimated at 2.4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, a figure the company has highlighted in investor decks and public statements, according to Compass Minerals.
How DLE differs from ponds
Direct lithium extraction, or DLE, relies on membranes, sorbents, or ion exchange processes to selectively pull lithium out of brine instead of waiting months for the sun to do most of the work in large ponds. In theory, that can shorten production timelines and shrink the land footprint, which is why the technology has become a favorite talking point in boardrooms and on conference stages. Independent industry analysis suggests DLE can speed up output and improve recovery rates, although results hinge on local water chemistry and successful scale-up, according to research from Deloitte.
Local stakes: water, wildlife and permits
The Great Salt Lake itself is a moving target. Its chemistry and resource estimates change as water levels rise and fall, a reality underscored in a recent open-file report that flags that variability as a key factor for any mining or extraction scheme, according to the Utah Geological Survey. State records also spell out that Compass’s Ogden facility pumps lake water into a network of west desert ponds and operates under long-standing discharge and water management requirements that do not simply carry over to a new lithium setup. Regulators have indicated those conditions would be revisited if a DLE pilot proceeds, according to the Utah Division of Environmental Quality.
Timeline and what to watch
EnergyX is not starting from a blank sheet of paper. The company has been running pilots and smaller commercial demonstrations, including its Project Lonestar plant in Texas, which began operating earlier this year and which EnergyX says backs up the recovery rates and cost profile it intends to replicate in Utah, according to EnergyX. For Compass, the prize is potentially huge. The company has already signed lithium supply deals and has told investors that its Ogden resource could support substantial domestic production, according to Compass Minerals. The new memorandum sets off the technical trials, environmental reviews, and permitting battles that will determine whether the Great Salt Lake’s lithium story finally moves from slide deck to steady output.
