E3 Lithium Outlines Demonstration Program Objectives to Advance Lithium Production in Alberta

E3 Lithium Outlines Demonstration Program Objectives to Advance Lithium Production in Alberta

CALGARY, Alberta–(BUSINESS WIRE)–E3 LITHIUM LTD. (TSXV: ETL) (FSE: OW3) (OTCQX: EEMMF), “E3 Lithium” or the “Company,” a leader in Canadian lithium, outlines the main objectives of its Demonstration Facility Project (the “Demo Project”), aimed at producing battery-grade lithium carbonate from E3 Lithium’s brine and lithium minerals resource¹, located in Alberta. The Demo Project is supported by Emissions Reduction Alberta (“ERA”), providing $5M CAD to support this important advancement for Alberta’s lithium industry. The facility and equipment will be completed over the winter and in operation in mid-2025.

Overview of the Demonstration Program

The Demo Project will encompass the full suite of process operations, from brine production, pretreatment and lithium carbonate production. The overarching goal is to replicate the functionality of the E3 Lithium commercial system at a smaller scale, to test the cohesiveness of each unit when operated simultaneously. The project will be divided into six main systems, each designed to operate as close to a commercial system as possible.

1. Brine Production: likely to occur in two stages, the brine will be sourced from the aquifer to feed the production equipment to generate lithium carbonate. A second stage will increase brine production volume to emulate a commercial production well, testing the reservoir properties at this scale.
   
2. Pre-DLE Brine Treatment: separate the entrained gas in the brine, this step will remove these gases using conventional petroleum industry two-phase separation equipment, producing a brine that can be fed directly into the DLE system.
   
3. Scaled-up DLE system: A larger scale, fully automated, DLE system will be deployed to mimic, as closely as possible, the same process operations that will be deployed in the commercial facility. This includes the numbers of vessels per module, how brine enters and exits the vessels and the sequence of rinse and desorption steps. The sorbent will be sourced from a third-party vendor for the DLE system in line with our Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”).
   
4. Post- DLE Treatment: This step further concentrates and refines the lithium chloride from the DLE system, optimized to produce battery-grade lithium as the final step.
   
5. Carbonation equipment: Sodium carbonate, sourced from a commercial supplier, will be added to the lithium chloride in a reactor to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate. As outlined in E3 Lithium’s PFS, the byproduct of this step is sodium chloride (table salt), which can be added back into the brine for disposal.
   
6. Water recovery: process water streams from the post-DLE treatment will be collected, where appropriate, to be used as strip fluid for desorbing the lithium from the sorbent in the DLE step.

As outlined, E3 Lithium is Commissioning the Carbonation Equipment in the laboratory in Calgary. The goal is to operate the equipment at demonstration scale in the lab to build the necessary skill set and confirm the operational parameters to enable the Company to produce consistent battery-grade lithium carbonate. The remainder of the equipment is being sourced from manufacturers as per the E3 Lithium commercial design specifications and requirements.

The Demo Project will be built and subsequently operated in defined phases:

1. The engineering and design of the equipment are well underway, with the focus on a design that closely resembles a commercial operating unit.
   
2. Equipment manufacturing is set to begin in the new year, with an expected four to five months to delivery on site.
   
3. Commissioning will occur on-site with brine that has already been produced, accelerating the commissioning process.
   
4. Once the system is operating to the designed specifications, the live brine stream will be connected, enabling end-to-end operations to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.

The lithium carbonate can be further converted to lithium hydroxide with one of our partner equipment vendors to define the process operations for that final step.

The success of our Demo Project, operated from our field location in Alberta, will achieve two essential objectives:

Confirm the process to achieving battery-grade lithium carbonate under commercial conditions.

Provide consistent product to our potential customers over an extended period produced by E3 Lithium

Similar to the Field Pilot Project, further details on the specific operating objectives will be outlined for the Demo Project closer to its operational start.

Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3 Lithium, said :

The success of the demonstration project will provide critical data and validation to our processes, while enabling our commercial initiatives,

“Completing these milestones and reducing technical risks for the Clearwater Project—and the lithium industry in Alberta as a whole—will strengthen our path to commercial operations and reinforces E3 Lithium’s long-term growth strategy.”

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