Canada-based petro-lithium company E3 Metals and exploration group Comstock Metals have formed a joint venture to cash in on “exponential growth” in the battery metal sector.
E3 said its “immediate goal is to demonstrate a commercially viable chemical concentration process as a key driver to commercial production” of its Alberta lithium brine resources.
But the joint venture will also focus on the acquisition and development of “quality mineral resources in North America”.
The agreement comes as global mining giants, including BHP, step up investments to secure supplies of key battery materials to supply increasing demand for electric vehicles— as BEST Battery Briefing revealed last week.
Petro-lithium focuses on concentrating lithium and other elements from brine that accompanies oil and gas production— rather than treating the brine as a waste product to be injected deep underground or stored after it is separated from oil.
Comstock president and CEO Steven Goldman, who as part of the joint venture is joining E3 as an advisor, said: “The battery metal sector, and the petro-lithium sector in particular, is at an inflection point.”
“We believe that the combination of technological innovation, the acquisition and development of substantial resources, and the growing demand, are at the early stages of exponential growth and will require ongoing innovation, planning and collaboration to fulfil its potential,” Goldman said.
E3 Metals said it is already “rapidly advancing” the development of direct recovery lithium brine projects in Canada’s western Alberta province.
The company said it holds inferred lithium resources at 6.7 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE)— and has a “compelling competitive advantage” by having access to infrastructure built by Alberta’s oil and gas industry. This has provided low finding costs, as the company has been able to sample existing wells to define its resource, E3 said.
“This infrastructure may also provide wells and pipelines for a future lithium production operation, potentially reducing the company’s future capital requirements.”
