Ottawa-backed E3 poised to deliver battery-grade lithium
E3 Lithium [ETL-TSXV, EEMMF-OTC, OU7A-FSE] said it is firmly positioned to deliver battery-grade lithium to the global market.
“Last year was a foundation-building year for E3 Lithium,’’ said the company’s President and CEO Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3, which has filed its financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for 2022.
He said E3 is positioned to meet global demand for lithium after being awarded $27 million from the government of Canada’s Strategic Investment Fund in 2022. The company also executed a US$5 million strategic agreement with Imperial Oil Ltd. [IMO-TSX], representing the first investment in lithium from a global energy industry leader.
In addition, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Pure Lithium, which produced a lithium metal battery using E3’s lithium concentrate.
These agreements are highlighted in E3’s 2022 year-end financial results, which were released after the close of trading on April 20, 2023, when E3 shares traded at $2.77 in a 52-week range of $2.87 and $1.59.
E3 is a company that sees opportunity in Alberta’s depleted oil and gas reserves. The technology it is testing will, if successful, extract lithium from brine in old wells, material that could eventually find its way into the batteries that power electric vehicles.
Brines (in salt ponds) and spodumene (hard rock) represent the two main sources of commercial lithium production.
E3 says it has developed Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology that connects conventional oilfield and lithium processing, unlocking Alberta’s previously untapped lithium resources. The company’s goal is to commercialize its global-scale lithium resource and deliver zero carbon emissions, battery grade, lithium products to the growing electric vehicle supply chain.
E3 said it has outlined a measured and indicated resource of 16 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) as well as an inferred resource of 900,000 tonnes of inferred resources in Alberta.
The company’s goal is to produce high-purity, battery-grade lithium products to power the growing electric revolution.
In keeping with that goal, the company drilled the first of two production wells for the purpose of evaluating lithium and sampled three wells at the hear of its Clearwater Project area, east of the town of Olds, Alberta. The company said it was able to confirm the of the aquifer and lithium concentrations in the core of its production area.
Given the size of E3’s Lithium resource and opportunity in Alberta, the company said it believes there is opportunity to develop portions of its resource with partners while still leaving significant land for E3 to develop on its own.
The company has an active commercial/corporate development group engaging and developing relationships with potential customers of its battery-grade lithium products.
Meanwhile, E3 said it oversaw the successful manufacture of its first quantity of continuously produced, commercial-scale sorbent, a move that it said is critical to the success and commercialization of its ion-exchange DLE technology.