E3 Lithium hosts official opening of commercial scale pilot extraction plant

E3 Lithium celebrated the new operation with a ribbon cutting Thursday at the plant about 20 kilometres east of Olds.

The plant is designed to test commercial extraction of lithium from oilfield brines found deep underground.

The brine is pumped through the company's unique extraction process to remove the lithium before returning the liquid to the Leduc aquifer otherwise intact.

The company hopes that this final commercial scale testing will allow it to start producing battery grade lithium for export by late 2026.

"It costs us more to produce it than its worth right now, simply because it is a very small scale pilot, but it's more the demonstration of the viability of the technology," says Chris Doornbros, CEO and founder of E3 Lithium.

"Being able to produce something that is highly concentrated and high purity, which is what we've been able to do, enables this to be able to be processed into a battery product."

Lithium is mostly used in rechargeable batteries, but there is also a significant world market for use in glass cook tops and ceramics.

Lithium is mostly used in rechargeable batteries, but there is also a significant world market for use in glass cook tops and ceramics. Worldwide the market is booming, but many traditional lithium producers are mining the reactive metal. Some processes rely on massive evaporation ponds or other environmentally straining technologies.

E3 is one of half a dozen local lithium extraction companies trying to turn Alberta's significant reserves into a new resource industry, tapping oilfield brines at existing well sites.

The fledgling extraction industry promises to use a much smaller footprint on the land with fewer environmental impacts than the mined product.