E3 LITHIUM LTD., a leader in Canadian lithium, is pleased to provide a progress update on its Demonstration Facility (“Demo Facility”). The Demo Facility is planned to be brought on stream in three phases through the second half of 2025 and into 2026.
The lithium extraction equipment comprising of the 30-column Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) system (the “30-Column System”), as well as the purification and concentration equipment is now fully fabricated and undergoing final checks. The heart of the lithium production equipment is comprised of five separate skids, each containing a specific operation: Skids one and two host the 30-columns and the value control for the DLE system, skids 3 and 4 host the filtration and purification equipment and skid 5 houses the control center. The skids are expected to arrive and be assembled on site in the Clearwater Project area over the next six to eight weeks. E3 Lithium has also received the sorbent for the DLE columns and completed the majority of the payments for this equipment.
Following arrival on site, the equipment will be assembled and undergo operational and safety checks, followed by final leak checks. Phase 1 will use brine hosted on site for the commissioning and operation of the 30-column system equipment to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate. It is expected that shortly after the drilling of the wells in Phase 2, the production well will be tied directly into the 30-column equipment and operate using a “live” brine feed.
Operation of a fully integrated system will enable E3 Lithium to optimize the process for factors such as recovery and flow rates and will provide important data for use in the design and costing of the commercial facility. The lithium carbonate produced will be used for customer interrogation and to potentially begin pre-qualification.
Each phase of the Demo Facility is an important step towards validating the process technology and E3 Lithium’s ability to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from Leduc Brines at scale. The key objective of the Demo Facility is to de-risk the project design for E3 Lithium’s full commercial scale Clearwater Project as the Company progresses towards completion of the Feasibility Study and securing of project financing.
“The team is very excited to see the equipment arrive on site,” commented E3 Lithium’s CEO, Chris Doornbos. “The Demo Facility will be one of the few systems of this kind globally to operate at this scale. It is a significant achievement for E3 Lithium to turn this design into a reality, and a major step forward to see it operate in the very near future.”
Preparation for Phase 3 will increase as the first phase begins field operations and is expected to be installed in early 2026.
businesswire.com
