Lithium recovered from salt-lake brines constitutes a major component of the global lithium supply. However, conventional extraction processes typically exhibit low lithium recovery efficiencies and prolonged processing durations, whereas recently developed direct lithium extraction technologies are currently constrained by substantial freshwater and chemical consumption. To address these limitations, this work reframes lithium extraction by treating brines as salt-forming systems rather than solely as liquids, thereby decoupling lithium recovery from large-scale aqueous handling. By integrating selective dissolution with solar-driven evaporation, this approach demonstrates how renewable energy can be directly embedded into lithium separation processes instead of merely powering conventional technologies. Approaches that leverage physicochemical selectivity, minimize freshwater use, and integrate renewable energy at the process level may play an important role in reducing the environmental footprint of critical material supply chains and enhancing their long-term resilience.