Lithium and the Energy Transition

With the energy transition in full swing, the global demand for critical minerals is growing drastically. Lithium, in particular, is a cornerstone element for modern battery chemistries and is expected to be for some time in the future. While there has been a strong global push to increase the supply of battery-grade lithium, projections beyond 2030 continue to see a deficit in supply. The energy transition simply cannot happen without enough lithium, and around the world we continue to see a determined effort to develop new projects, bringing new lithium resources to light.

Ironically, however, the way we produce battery-grade lithium from these resources isn’t scalable. Around half of the world’s lithium resources are trapped in brines, and for these resources producers have historically relied on evaporation ponds and chemical extraction processes that are highly unsustainable. Although new ‘Direct Lithium Extraction’ (DLE) technologies have emerged over time, many of these have often struggled with unit economics, complex operations, and/or are only applicable on a case-by-case basis for specific brine assets. As such, there continues to be a strong demand for new innovations in the sector.

Introducing ElectraLith

The team at ElectraLith is developing a novel electrochemical DLE solution, enabling battery-grade lithium hydroxide to be produced in a single-step process.

With its modular design, low cost of operation, process simplicity and breadth of applicability across different lithium resources, ElectraLith’s technology has the potential to significantly shift the cost curve for lithium production and to enable far greater supply to be brought to market to fuel the energy transition.

Taking on this global challenge is an all-star team, with CEO Charles McGill, CTO Shaun Oosthuizen and VP of Engineering Damien Edwards leading the charge, alongside a cadre of some of the best process engineering and membrane science talent out of Monash University.

We are pleased to join existing investors IP Group, Rio Tinto and Monash University on the ElectraLith journey, and are excited to welcome a world-class syndicate of like-minded co-investors alongside us, including Chevron, Fathom Fund, Breakthrough Victoria, Vista Energy, Marathon Petroleum and In-Q-Tel.

What’s next?

This funding round will enable ElectraLith to firmly establish its position as the cleanest, most versatile and most cost-efficient method to extract and refine lithium from brines. The team’s focus over this next period will be on scaling up its solution from the lab to prototype and pilot-scale production in order to satisfy the immense customer demand for ElectraLith’s solution. In addition, ElectraLith will continue to demonstrate technical and economic viability with a growing range of customer brine resources from all around the world.

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