POSCO will build and operate a DLE demonstration plant in Utah at its own cost, paying Anson Resources $5.2 million. The plant runs 2027-2028.
Alpha Score of 54 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, moderate value, weak quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals — score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
POSCO Holdings is building a direct lithium extraction demonstration plant in Utah, taking full financial and operational responsibility for the project. The South Korean steel and battery-materials group signed a definitive agreement with Anson Resources on June 11 to construct the facility at the Green River Lithium Project in the Paradox Basin.
POSCO will design, build, and run the plant at its own cost, using its proprietary DLE technology on a continuous industrial scale. The company will extract lithium from brines Anson supplies, using the site's existing infrastructure. POSCO will pay Anson a facilitation fee of roughly $5.2 million.
The demonstration plant is scheduled to start operations in 2027 and run through 2028. The agreement creates a framework for both sides to discuss commercial collaboration and potential joint investment in the Green River project as they work to de-risk the technical process.
The deal is a step toward validating POSCO's DLE technology in the U.S. market. The company, better known as a steelmaker, has been expanding into battery materials, including lithium and nickel. Its Alpha Score sits at 54 out of 100, a Mixed rating from AlphaScala's proprietary model.
POSCO shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PKX. The company's core steel business supplies automotive, construction, and shipbuilding markets. The lithium push adds a growth angle tied to the electric-vehicle supply chain, though the demonstration plant will not generate revenue until at least 2027.
The Green River project sits in the Paradox Basin, a region with known lithium-bearing brines. POSCO's DLE technology aims to extract lithium from those brines at a continuous industrial scale, a step beyond the batch testing common in early-stage lithium projects. If the technology works at scale, the partnership could lead to a commercial agreement and joint investment in the Green River project.
Anson Resources, the Australian partner, supplies the brine and site infrastructure. POSCO pays the facilitation fee and carries the technical risk. The plant is scheduled to run from 2027 through 2028.
For investors tracking the lithium supply chain, the deal is a test of whether POSCO's DLE technology can work outside South Korea. A successful demonstration would open a path to U.S. lithium production from brine, a resource the country has in the Paradox Basin but has not yet tapped at scale{
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