Prairie Lithium receives C$1.074M from Government of Canada to develop its direct lithium extraction technology

Prairie Lithium is receiving $1,074,000 CAD from the Critical Mineral Research Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for further development of its direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. The funding, along with matching funds from Prairie Lithium, will be invested into the development of the Company's proprietary DLE technology over the next 12 months.

The technology, Prairie Lithium Ion Exchange (PLIX), is an ion-exchange material that selectively extracts lithium from brine. The PLIX material is highly selective to lithium and was developed specifically to work with subsurface brines produced from Prairie Lithium's resource area.

PLIX acts as a Lithium Ion Sieve (LIS) that only allows lithium ions to exchange into its crystal structure due to the ionic radii. When PLIX is loaded with lithium it is stripped with a solution of dilute hydrochloric acid. After the lithium is stripped, PLIX is recycled back into the lithium rich brine stream for another loading cycle.

​PLIX may have a global application, with the process currently being tested on lithium resources from other jurisdictions.

Prairie Lithium is a lithium brine resource and technology developer operating in Southeast Saskatchewan. Incorporated in 2019, the company has secured more than 362,000 acres of mineral holdings.

Prairie Lithium is optimizing its most advanced DLE pilot unit. Once completed, the fully automated unit will be capable of continuous operation, processing brine from the company's lithium brine well—the first of its kind to be drilled in Canada.

The funds from this grant will be used to complete the upgrades and automation of the unit. The pilot plant will then undergo third-party performance verification, followed by field deployment.

Prairie Lithium's projects hold the highest quality inferred lithium brine resource in Canada discovered to date, with 4.1MT LCE total inferred resources at 111 mg/L Li.

Posted on 08 March 2023 in Batteries, Manufacturing, Market Background, Materials, Mining | Permalink | Comments (0)