MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - A Calgary-based company has been awarded $5 million to further develop technology at its Mountain View County site to turn the oil and gas industry’s wastewater into highly-sought-after lithium.
E3 Lithium announced last week its plan to build a fully integrated Lithium Brine Demonstration Facility at its site east of Olds with the goal to produce battery grade lithium carbonate from brines located within the Leduc reservoir in Alberta.
Company officials say the demo project takes a significant step forward in the company’s strategic plan to develop a commercial lithium facility that will reinforce western Canada as a major lithium resource jurisdiction.
On Thursday, the provincial government announced Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) has awarded the company $5 million through the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program to further its goals.
Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz called the company visionary in its quest to turn waste that is naturally found in oil and gas industry’s wastewater into battery-grade lithium products that can be sold to battery producers and automotive companies around the world.
“This isn’t hypothetical either. E3’s technology has already been piloted and it works. They just need support fine tuning and perfecting this process before its applied at a commercial scale. That is where ERA (Emmissions Reduction Alberta) comes in,” Schulz said during the press conference held at E3’s Mountain View County facility Aug. 15.
The company says its lithium brine demo project will be an advancement from the successful direct lithium extraction (DLE) pilot program conducted in 2023.
E3 operated and evaluated multiple technologies, showcasing the technical feasibility of DLE technology including its own proprietary DLE. The company said the 2023 pilot provided critical data used in the recently released pre-feasibility validating the economic feasibility of lithium projects in Alberta.
Global demand for lithium is soaring, Schulz said.
While lithium is well known to be used in electric vehicle batteries, she said the mineral is also used to create batteries for a wide range of electronics that people rely on every day, from pacemakers, smartphones and laptops to medical equipment and alarm systems.
Brian Jean, minister of the Energy and Minerals department, said increased global demand for electric vehicles and battery storage are going to lead to Alberta having another resource to sell to the world.
“Our province has the expertise and the resources to extract lithium and meet this growing global demand. By using our legacy oil and gas infrastructure and know-how, we can create a new boom to fuel Alberta into the future, thanks to investment and innovation from companies like E3 Lithium,” said Jean.
The Lithium Brine Demonstration Facility project will help E3 study how its technology will perform on a small scale, helping to mitigate risks and provide important data on how much lithium can be produced annually for a future, full-scale commercial facility estimated to begin construction in 2026.
E3 Lithium is the first company to lead this type of extraction project in Alberta.
"E3 is on the path to building a new industry in the province. As we prove the technology at an increasing scale, we increase the certainty that Alberta can be a major lithium-producing jurisdiction. ERA's funding is crucial for developing a commercial facility and producing battery-grade lithium. This investment not only supports E3 but also opens new opportunities for the province and positions Alberta as a leader in critical minerals innovation," said Chris Doornbos, president and CEO of E3 Lithium.
Other officials on hand for the announcement included representatives from the company, Mountain View County, Emmissions Reduction Alberta and the constituency's MLA, Nathan Cooper.
