Lithium company marks new milestone with its central Alberta pilot project

A Calgary-based useful resource development company that’s testing a specific technique for extracting lithium says its central Alberta pilot project has reached a important milestone.

E3 Lithium’s demonstration facility, recognized as the Clearwater Project, is situated east of Olds, Alta. It is testing direct lithium extraction technology for industrial scale.

The course of pumps brine from underground oilfield aquifers, extracts lithium and then reinjects the liquid back.

Phase 1 of the pilot project started in September and E3 Lithium says it produced battery-grade lithium within three weeks. Chris Doornbos, the company’s CEO, called the latest technological successes important steps in proving the viability of the technology.

The next part of the project includes drilling a manufacturing nicely and an injection nicely. E3 Lithium says securing financing to transfer its work ahead is key.

“That’s the biggest challenge I think the company faces right now, … bringing that finance together,” Doornbos said in an interview.

The company announced last week that it is going to promote some of its belongings in Saskatchewan’s Estevan lithium district to “an arm’s length private company” for about $4.29 million, refocusing its funds toward the Clearwater Project.

WATCH | Could lithium turn out to be Alberta’s next major useful resource? 

Active development

In a assertion issued about the Estevan asset sale, Doornbos said E3 Lithium stays centered on building Canada’s first fully-integrated lithium manufacturing facility.

“By monetizing these non-core lithium assets in Saskatchewan, we are unlocking value that bolsters our financial position and supports our Clearwater Project’s active development that will help us reach a final investment decision,” he wrote.

The next 12 months can be essential, Doornbos said, as the company works to full its feasibility examine, secure permits and prepare financing to have a industrial facility “shovel ready” by early 2026.

He said the goal is to start industrial manufacturing in 2028, with plans for about 36,000 tons of lithium carbonate yearly.

Once operational, the ability is anticipated to create around 200 full-time jobs, as nicely as a whole bunch of momentary construction jobs to construct it in the first place.

“A lot of that’s going to be done locally,” Doornbos said.

Estimated to value around $2.5 billion, the project has already acquired $27 million from the federal authorities and $5 million in provincial assist through the province’s Emissions Reduction Alberta initiative.

A ribbon cutting event was held for Phase 1 in September, where Energy Minister Brian Jean said lithium is key to Alberta’s power future and that he’s happy to see the project making progress.

“Critical minerals like lithium are a big part of powering everything from cars, phones to data centres,” Jean said.

“They’re showing how mature oil and gas sites can be repurposed for this mineral development, which means there’s a good cost proposition there.”

Doornbos said E3 Lithium’s objective is to show a low-impact manufacturing course of, and to produce lithium that is sellable instantly to the battery industry without any need for post-processing, which usually occurs in China today.

“The project that we will develop will use minimal land and very little to no water, making it one of the least impactful lithium production projects globally,” he said.

Environmental researcher has questions

Teresa Kramarz, affiliate professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Environment and co-director of the Environmental Governance Lab, said the direct lithium extraction technology E3 Lithium is utilizing is promising, but has not yet reached industrial scale.

She famous it’s still being piloted in Canada and globally, including in Argentina and Chile.

“A lot of things are still hypothetical,” Kramarz said.

Among the key issues she raised are environmental impacts, significantly how the method may alter hydrological systems, affecting groundwater stress, high quality and subsurface water flows.

“When something is still a pilot, there’s a lot of modelling of impacts,” Kramarz said.

“So I think the more important things will be to ensure that there are some really clear baseline measurements to figure out what is happening.”

Kramarz said she is keen to see tasks — just like the one E3 Lithium is working on — evolve, particularly to see what safeguards are carried out and how dangers such as unexpected mining waste are managed.

She harassed the significance of strong regulatory oversight as Canada pushes to develop essential minerals manufacturing.

“There’s such a push to develop them that the regulatory oversight can lag behind,” she said.