Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a global specialty chemicals company whose lithium and bromine operations depend on reliable freshwater supplies for mineral processing and production. Its water program combines process-efficiency improvements, water-risk screening, wastewater treatment, and site-level stewardship in regions facing high or extremely high baseline water stress.

Albemarle's strongest water-efficiency case was its Chilean lithium operations. Optimization of the thermal evaporator at the La Negra facility allowed higher lithium production without a corresponding increase in freshwater use. Continuous operation of the Salar Yield Improvement Project also contributed to a 46% reduction in freshwater intensity from the 2019 baseline, including a further 28% improvement during the latest reporting period. The Salar Yield Improvement Project modifies lithium processing at the Salar de Atacama to recover more lithium that would otherwise remain trapped in by-product salts from the evaporation ponds. The process mechanically grinds and washes lithium-containing salts so that additional lithium-bearing brine can be recovered; this improves overall lithium yield without requiring a proportional increase in brine extraction or freshwater use.

At Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Albemarle began removing and treating approximately 4.9 billion liters of precipitation-fed water accumulated in a legacy mine pit. The legacy mine pit is the open pit left from earlier mining operations that ceased in the early 1990s; over the following decades, the inactive pit gradually filled with rainwater and stormwater. Albemarle pumped this accumulated water through a dedicated multi-stage treatment system before releasing it under state water-quality requirements designed to protect nearby Kings Creek and the surrounding watershed. Dewatering the pit also allowed the company to conduct further technical studies of the site.

The company also applies WRI Aqueduct screening to prioritize conservation in water-stressed countries. Freshwater consumption in high or extremely high-stress countries declined from 22.7% in 2022 to 18.9% in 2024. Albemarle reported no water-quality noncompliance incidents during this three-year period.