A Richmond company has received almost $5 million from the federal government to help develop lithium from brine for use in batteries.
The $4.9 million grant to Saltworks Technologies will be used to accelerate the concentration and conversion of lithium brine into lithium battery precursors using two new technologies developed and tested by Saltworks.
This project could accelerate access to lithium resources.
The equipment created by Saltworks can convert brine into marketable lithium that can then be used in batteries by companies worldwide.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, these investments will support Canada’s ability to address a gap in midstream lithium processing through the advancement of Canadian technologies.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, was in Richmond on Wednesday to announce the grant for Saltworks Technologies as well as a $4.5 million grant to NORAM Electrolysis Systems Inc. (NESI), based in Vancouver, under the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program.
The grant for NESI will support industrial-scale demonstration of membrane electrolysis technology for lithium production at NESI’s new test centre.
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