According to a report by Mining.com, citing Reuters, Khalid al-Mudaifer, Deputy Minister of Mining for Saudi Arabia, revealed on Tuesday that lithium has been successfully extracted from brine samples taken from Aramco’s oil fields, and a commercial pilot program for direct lithium extraction will soon be launched.

Mudayfir revealed that Lithium Infinity (also known as Lihytech), a startup emerging from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), will be responsible for this lithium extraction project, in collaboration with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and Aramco.

“Using new technology developed by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, they are extracting lithium, and they’re accelerating progress in this area,” he said. They are currently building a commercial pilot plant at the oilfield. “Brine from the oilfield can continuously supply the pilot plant with feedstock,” Al-Mudayfir added.

Lithium is a key raw material used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles, laptops, and smartphones. Earlier, Reuters reported that the national oil companies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates plan to extract lithium from wastewater generated at oil fields.

As the world seeks to move away from reliance on fossil fuels, other oil companies—including ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum—are planning to use new technologies to extract lithium from brine.

The deputy minister said that although the cost of extracting lithium from oilfield brine is higher than that of traditional salt lake lithium extraction, he hopes that if lithium prices rise, this project will become economically viable.

Aramco and other companies did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The major shareholder of the Saudi Mining Company is the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Over the past several decades, Saudi Arabia’s economy has been heavily reliant on oil. In line with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s call for economic diversification, Saudi Arabia has already invested billions of dollars in building an electric-vehicle hub.