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Direct Lithium Extraction & Brine-Processing Specialist - GCM-4
Location: Remote - anchored to Reno, Nevada
Engagement: Contingent consulting/project-based assignment
Anticipated compensation: $150-$300 per hour or a negotiated fixed price for a defined work package
Travel: International travel may be required
Opportunity: USTDA Global Critical Minerals Project Scoping Services
Position Summary
Axyde Analytics is assembling a multidisciplinary expert cadre for a time-sensitive proposal to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. If Axyde receives the award, USTDA may request support evaluating prospective international mining, mineral-processing, refining, infrastructure and critical-mineral supply-chain projects.
For GCM-4, Axyde is seeking a senior specialist with substantial, directly evidenced experience in direct lithium extraction and lithium-bearing brine processing, including one or more of the following:

• Adsorption and ion-sieve technologies
• Ion exchange
• Membrane-based separation
• Solvent extraction
• Electrochemical lithium recovery
• Selective precipitation and impurity removal
• Brine pretreatment, concentration and polishing
• DLE pilot testing, scale-up and commercial-readiness assessment

This is a deliberately narrow technical requirement. The specialist may work within a broader team addressing hydrogeology, resource development, water management, infrastructure, markets, finance and environmental risk, but selection for GCM-4 will be based primarily on demonstrated depth in DLE and brine processing.
This is not a general lithium, battery, hydrogeology, mining, chemical-engineering or business-development position. General lithium-sector experience will not substitute for directly relevant DLE or brine-processing experience.
Potential Responsibilities
Depending on the assignment, the specialist may:

• Evaluate brine chemistry and its compatibility with proposed DLE technologies.
• Review lithium concentration, magnesium-to-lithium ratios, calcium, boron, sulfate, silica and other impurity considerations.
• Assess adsorption, ion-sieve, ion-exchange, membrane, solvent-extraction, electrochemical or hybrid DLE processes.
• Evaluate brine pretreatment, impurity removal, polishing, concentration and lithium-product conversion requirements.
• Review laboratory, bench, pilot, demonstration and commercial-scale test results.
• Assess lithium recovery, selectivity, kinetics, sorbent capacity, reagent consumption, water use and energy demand.
• Evaluate sorbent, membrane or extractant life, degradation, regeneration and replacement assumptions.
• Review mass, water and chemical balances.
• Assess scaling, fouling, corrosion, precipitation and brine-compatibility risks.
• Evaluate spent-brine management, reinjection assumptions and potential effects on reservoir performance.
• Assess integration between the subsurface brine resource, extraction wells, DLE plant and downstream product-conversion facility.
• Review equipment selection, process controls, utilities, consumables, waste streams and operating assumptions.
• Identify data gaps, pilot requirements, scale-up risks and conditions for credible commercial advancement.
• Contribute to project scopes, terms of reference, budgets, schedules, test programs and technical-risk registers.
• Prepare or independently review concise, decision-grade technical findings and recommendations.
• Participate in remote meetings, stakeholder discussions and international site visits when required.

Required Specialized Experience
Applicants must demonstrate meaningful experience in one or more of the following:

• DLE technology development, evaluation, testing or operation.
• Lithium-selective adsorbents or ion-sieve materials.
• Lithium-specific ion-exchange systems.
• Membrane-based lithium separation or concentration.
• Solvent extraction for lithium recovery.
• Electrochemical lithium extraction or recovery.
• Processing of salar, geothermal, oilfield, produced-water or other lithium-bearing brines.
• Brine pretreatment and impurity management.
• DLE pilot-plant design, execution, interpretation or scale-up.
• Lithium chloride, lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide product conversion following DLE.
• DLE equipment selection, commissioning, troubleshooting or process optimization.
• Independent technical review of DLE projects, technologies or investment claims.

Applicants must distinguish their personal technical contributions from the work performed by the broader project or organization.
Résumé Evidence Required
DO NOT SUBMIT A GENERAL RÉSUMÉ.
The submitted résumé must clearly identify:

• At least two directly relevant DLE or lithium-brine-processing projects.
• The brine source and relevant chemistry.
• The specific DLE technology or separation mechanism evaluated.
• The applicant's personal role and technical responsibility.
• The scale of the work: laboratory, bench, pilot, demonstration or commercial.
• Relevant sorbents, membranes, extractants, electrochemical systems, reagents or equipment.
• Recovery, selectivity, kinetics, purity, water-use or reagent-consumption results, where available.
• Technical reports, test programs, flowsheets, designs, reviews or recommendations personally produced.
• Scale-up decisions, technical risks or commercial-readiness conclusions supported by the applicant.

A résumé that merely lists lithium exploration, batteries, brine resources, evaporation ponds or chemical processing without substantiating direct DLE or selective lithium-recovery experience will not be advanced.
Breadth is not rewarded for GCM-4 unless the required DLE depth is first established.
Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in chemical engineering, hydrometallurgy, extractive metallurgy, materials science, electrochemistry, geochemistry or a closely related discipline.
• Professional Engineer or comparable technical credential.
• Experience connecting brine-resource characteristics to DLE-process performance.
• Experience taking a DLE technology from laboratory testing through pilot, demonstration or commercial deployment.
• Familiarity with lithium-product specifications and downstream conversion requirements.
• Experience reviewing process mass balances, water balances, capital costs and operating costs.
• Experience evaluating projects in emerging markets or water-constrained jurisdictions.
• Experience preparing independent technical reviews, feasibility-study inputs or lender/investor due diligence.
• Experience preparing English-language reports for government, financial or executive decision-makers.

Eligibility and Availability
Applicants must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or a non-U.S. citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States.
• Be potentially available to begin supporting an authorized assignment within approximately 20 days, subject to final scheduling.
• Be willing and able to travel internationally when an assignment requires it.
• Identify any country, customer, travel, employment, confidentiality, intellectual-property or conflict-of-interest restrictions.
• Be able to perform without using or disclosing proprietary information belonging to another employer or client.
• Authorize Axyde to tailor and reformat the submitted résumé without materially changing the applicant's qualifications.

Contingent Nature of the Opportunity
This announcement supports proposal and contingent-workforce planning. It does not guarantee employment, contract award, minimum hours or a specific assignment. Any engagement will remain subject to contract award, assignment requirements, final role alignment, eligibility, availability, mutually acceptable compensation and execution of appropriate engagement documentation.
Application Instructions
Submit a résumé specifically tailored to direct lithium extraction and lithium-bearing brine processing. Include a short statement identifying:

1. Your strongest DLE or brine-processing subspecialty.
2. The brine types and lithium-recovery technologies with which you have worked.
3. Two directly relevant projects and your personal technical contribution.
4. The testing or operating scale achieved.
5. Your current location.
6. Your U.S.-citizen or lawful-permanent-resident status.
7. Your international-travel availability.
8. Your anticipated hourly rate or fixed-work-package preference.

Applicants who cannot demonstrate direct depth in DLE technology, selective lithium recovery or lithium-brine processing should not apply to GCM-4.