Below the brand new settlement, the events will work collectively over the subsequent 12 months to finish a rigorous techno-economic mannequin, proceed the joint scale-up efforts, and design a lithium steel anode and battery pilot facility to be constructed close to Calgary, utilizing lithium from focus generated by E3.
By way of this work, E3 and Pure Lithium will assess the technical and financial standards of a industrial lithium steel battery facility that will be positioned subsequent to the lithium manufacturing in Alberta.
Upon profitable completion, they may consider the subsequent steps, together with the operation of the pilot, which is designed to supply 200 kg of lithium steel anodes utilized in lithium steel vanadium rechargeable batteries.
The collaboration would result in development in the direction of the world’s first vertically built-in lithium steel battery expertise, the businesses mentioned.
The mixed course of, in keeping with E3, eliminates the necessity to produce a lithium salt as an middleman step and will present a way more simplified course of circulation sheet.
Based mostly in Boston, Massachusetts, Pure Lithium has developed a groundbreaking technique for producing battery-ready pure lithium steel electrodes from accessible salts. The proposed battery facility would mix its patented “brine to battery” expertise with E3’s huge lithium brines and focus manufacturing.
E3 presently owns the Clearwater mission positioned between Pink Deer and Calgary, the place it’s testing a direct lithium extraction (DLE) expertise to extract naturally occurring lithium from oilfield brines. It’s anticipated to generate 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide yearly over a 20-year life. Final 12 months, the corporate opened its pilot testing facility, the primary within the province, to check the DLE technique utilizing the Clearwater brines.
“Integrating the E3 DLE circulation sheet with Pure Lithium’s electrodeposition expertise reveals important promise to ship low-cost, sustainable batteries that will be business main,” E3 Lithium CEO Chris Doornbos mentioned in a information launch.
“After two years of diligent work, E3 has constantly supplied Pure Lithium with lithium focus, and we’re excited to make use of this focus as we scale,” Pure Lithium founder and CEO Emilie Bodoin mentioned.
“Producing our lithium steel anodes from focus dramatically reduces the price of battery manufacturing and eradicating the necessity to put together anodes for transport will result in elevated efficiency within the battery,” she added.
Shares of E3 Lithium surged 10.1% to C$1.41 apiece by 11:30 a.m. ET on the announcement, giving the corporate a market capitalization of C$105.1 million ($77 million). The inventory traded between C$0.92 and C$5.72 over the previous 52 weeks.