While the world seems to be undergoing a great GREEN revolution, there’s a potentially catastrophic problem on the horizon before we get there.
According to Benchmark, lithium demand is expected to reach 2.4 million tonnes LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) in 2030 – this is almost 1.8 million tonnes more than the 600,000 tonnes of lithium Benchmark expects will be produced in 2022.1
This means the mining sector will need to step up its production by at least 3x to meet demand, at a cost estimated to be an additional US$42 billion to accomplish.2
And the costs to consumers could keep rising, as we’ve already seen in 2022 with top bids for lithium up 140%, causing Tesla CEO Elon Musk to call the new price point ‘Insane Levels’. 3
Luckily, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) is ready to help increase the global lithium supply with one of the world’s largest recorded lithium resources and the proprietary technology to become a dominant lithium producer for +20 years.
Breaking News
Now we’re seeing even more factors piling up that could cause even these price estimates to come in low and/or overly conservative.
What kind of factors?
Since the Eastern European conflict and its subsequent sanctions,4 the race is on around the world to find new sources of lithium.5
Africa is getting more attention from lithium seekers,6 especially from China, which still wants/needs more!7
South America is experiencing some political changes that could put its lithium supplies at risk in the Lithium Triangle.8
And now the EU has voted to ban all sales of gas and diesel vehicles by 2035.9
On top of all that… there’s also a growing chorus of criticism against conventional lithium miners for not being overly ESG friendly.10
Considering all of these factors, smart money is ready to get in on the action and is looking for the perfect combination of long-term lithium production that’s ESG friendly, and safely located in a reliable jurisdiction.
Enter E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF), which not only holds an impressive land position in business-friendly Alberta, Canada, but it also brings to the table one of the largest lithium resources on the planet, and a proprietary technology that could change the lithium industry as we know it.
E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF), which trades under the symbol ETL on the TSX Venture Exchange,11 just released some extraordinary news that simply can’t be ignored (more on this BIG NEWS later).
Now let’s break down the numerous reasons E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) is THE BEST WAY to invest in the coming lithium shortage crisis, with a company that’s built to make a huge impact on the industry.
7 Reasons
To Invest in E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) as a Lithium Production Game Changer
1
Lithium Market is BOOMING: Thanks to surging demand for EVs and lithium-ion batteries for tech, the world is scrambling for lithium supply, with structural shortages in the lithium market for years to come.
2
Flagship Asset with Globally Significant Resource: With 24.3 million tonnes inferred LCE on the books, E3 Lithium has one of the largest lithium resources in the world. This only entails about 70% of the company’s entire resource area.
3
Very Attractive Economics: Thanks to the above-mentioned Resource and its average of 74.6 mg/L Li, the project outlines a USD 1.1B NPV (8%), for just the first phase of production of 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide annually over the first 20 years, according to ETL’s Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) 12
4
Proprietary, ESG-Friendly Technology: 100% brine disposal, and a small land footprint makes the company’s proprietary DLE ion-exchange technology a potential monumental game changer in the lithium space.
5
World-Class Jurisdiction: Within industry-friendly Alberta, E3 is capitalizing on the famous “Alberta Advantage”, with over 600,000 hectares of brine permits in an area where 4,000 oil and gas wells have already been drilled to-date. 13
6
Progressing Towards Commercial Operations: Using brines derived from drilling Alberta’s first brine production wells in the Clearwater Project area, the company is steadily progressing towards commercial production by 2025-26.
7
Strong Leadership Team: Proven management team combines over 150 years of experience in emerging technologies, finance, mining, petroleum and unconventional resource plays as well as process engineering, development and optimization.
Lithium: The Next Gold Rush
It can’t be stressed enough how big of an opportunity the lithium market presents at this stage in time.
We’re living through a WILD shift, with lithium consumption nearly quadrupling since 2010.14
“I’d certainly encourage entrepreneurs out there who are looking for opportunities to get into the lithium business. We think we’re going to need to help the industry on this front.”
– Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc.
Clearly NOW is the time for something BIG to hit the lithium market, and give consumers something to hope for. This is where E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) is not only well-equipped but also perfectly timed to succeed.
E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) is Targeting Commercial Production by 2025-26
Unlike conventional lithium producers like Albemarle and Lithium Americas, who produce from evaporation ponds and/or hard rock mining, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) has a UNIQUE strategy to succeed.
E3 has outlined a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) from third-party experts, revealing that its proprietary DLE ion-exchange technology, large resource, and favorable jurisdiction are ideal for lithium development.
Globally Significant Lithium Resource
At the core of the E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) story is one of the largest lithium resources in the world (24.3 Mt LCE), all within a business-friendly jurisdiction (Alberta, Canada) with a government that’s making an effort to evolve into a serious player in the lithium market.20
Existing data on E3’s resource demonstrates fairly consistent lithium grades throughout, all while suggesting there’s additional upside as exploration across the remaining land package continues.
On July 11, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) increased its Inferred Mineral Resources to a whopping 24.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) more than tripling its inferred resource.21
The Bashaw District combines and extends the Clearwater Resource and Exshaw Resource areas into a consolidated resource that contains an estimated total of 59 billion cubic meters (59 cubic kilometers) of brine formation water at an average grade of 74.5 milligram/litre lithium.
The increase in the resource comes after significant work by E3 Lithium‘s team to improve and expand the company’s understanding of the highly saline Leduc Aquifer in the Bashaw District.
The ‘Alberta Advantage’
E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) owns over 600,000 hectares (~1.48 million acres) in industry-friendly Alberta, where the government has committed to a strategy that it hopes will help the province become an international player in mineral extraction—and they believe E3 Lithium will help them get there.
The province has provided $1.8 million to E3 in grant funding, as historically there have been over 4,000 oil and gas wells drilled within the same areas of the company’s brine permits.
E3 has re-entered these wells to conduct sampling and testing and leverage over 70 years of historical data to understand the lithium potential at depth. All of this valuable data affords E3 the ability to delineate an inferred resource, without the need for new, costly drilling.
E3 Lithium just finished drilling its first brine production wells —the FIRST of their kind in Alberta.23
As part of its first exploratory drill program, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTXQC:EEMMF) has pulled up brine samples from several zones of each well to verify lithium concentrations and production testing, confirming flow rates and deliverability from the Leduc Reservoir.
In the first well, E3 achieved its total planned depth of 2,670 meters (m), allowing for full data collection, including 36.9 meters of core sample. It also reached total depth in its second well. The company acquired an existing well for its third, saving about $1.5M.24
Press Releases
- E3 Lithium Completes Production Test on First Well to Positive Results
- E3 Lithium Expands Team with Multiple New Technical Roles
- E3 Lithium Acquires Existing Well, Repurposing Infrastructure and Reducing Environmental Impact
- E3 Lithium Outlines Drilling Update; Files Technical Report for More than Tripling of Inferred Resource in Bashaw District
- E3 Lithium Files Bashaw District Technical Report
E3’s ESG-Friendly Lithium Ion-Exchange Tech: The Next Generation of Li Production
Beyond the globally-significant lithium resource, one of E3’s most promising assets is its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) Ion-Extraction Technology, which utilizes a proprietary sorbent designed to be highly selective towards lithium ions.
At an energy conference in April 2022, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had this to say about DLE: “It’s such a game-changer. There’s huge opportunities.”25
DLE’s potential has drawn the interest of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to the tune of a $15 million investment to test the technology at California’s Salton Sea—ahead of what is proposed to result in a multibillion-dollar production facility, capable of producing 90,000 metric tons of lithium per year.
How effective is E3’s proprietary process?
So far, lab results have demonstrated:
- Rapid kinetics, recovering lithium ions in minutes, not months
- Lithium recoveries consistently exceeding 90%, with peak recoveries exceeding 95%
- High contaminant rejection exceeding 98% removal
E3’s resource – the Leduc Reservoir – is capable of producing 130,000m3 of brine per day.
It’s all done with a closed loop system, with 100% brine re-injection.
E3’s DLE technology generates a high-purity concentrate solution. Refinement of the lithium concentrate results in battery-quality lithium hydroxide for direct sale to battery manufacturers that could include Tesla, Panasonic or others.
In fact, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTXQC:EEMMF) has already partnered up with Pure Lithium to create its first successful lithium metal battery using lithium from its resources.
Pure Lithium used lithium from E3 to create the lithium metal to produce a pouch cell battery to demonstrate the proof of concept.
Following the success of the initial test program, the two companies signed an MOU to complete a series of testing over the next six to nine months to define how their technologies can be combined to produce a commercially-viable production process for lithium metal batteries and electrodes.
In July, E3 Lithium reached another monumental milestone when it oversaw the successful manufacture of its first quantity of continuously produced, commercial scale sorbent – which is critical to the success and commercialization of its ion-exchange DLE technology.26
The company worked with a third-party equipment design and manufacturer using their in-house development equipment to produce an initial 20 kilograms of E3’s proprietary sorbent in a single continuous run.
This 20 kg test run not only demonstrated that large-scale production is possible using this equipment, but it positions E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTXQC:EEMMF) to achieve its goals of:
- Having the vendor produce several tonnes of sorbent for its field pilot project
- Designing the equipment to be implemented in the commercial processing facility as part of the company’s Clearwater Project
Incredibly ESG Friendly
E3 Lithium’s DLE provides the potential for industry-leading ESG, through carbon sequestration in Alberta as a potential for Carbon Neutrality.27
100% of the brine brought to surface for lithium extraction will be recycled back into the aquifer.
Less than 3% of land will be required for E3’s development compared to similar conventional lithium projects.
And on top of all that, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTXQC:EEMMF) process requires no open pit mining, tailings ponds or evaporative ponds.
Furthermore, E3 recently acquired28 a third-party well in its Clearwater Project Area within the Bashaw District. The acquisition will reduce the environmental footprint associated with E3’s drilling program, represents a potential cost savings of more than $1.5 million and repurposes the oil and gas infrastructure and represents the ‘Alberta Advantage’ in action.
Derisking and Progressing
Towards Commercial Operations
The E3 Lithium project is steadily progressing towards commercial production, which the company currently projects to be achievable by 2025-26.
As part of the efforts towards this milestone, E3 Lithium just finished drilling Alberta’s FIRST two brine productions well in the Clearwater Project area.
Using brines from wells in this area, E3 is developing a modular field pilot to demonstrate its proprietary ion-exchange technology.
While applying the best fit-for-purpose LiOH production process for its flowsheet, E3 will also be providing LiOH samples for its potential offtake partners from their DLE Field Pilot.
All the while, E3 Lithium has kept its financial position stable, and its share structure tidy.
Strong Leadership Team
In order to take a proprietary technology in a newly developing lithium production region, the ambitious project requires good stewardship. It takes more than just a friendly business jurisdiction to make something like this work. Thankfully, E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) is in VERY capable hands.
ETL’s leadership team includes:
7 Reasons
To Seriously Look Into E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) NOW!
1
Lithium Market is BOOMING
2
Flagship Asset with Globally Significant Resource
3
Very Attractive Economics
4
Proprietary, ESG-Friendly Technology
5
World-Class, Business-Friendly Jurisdiction
6
Progressing Towards Commercial Operations
7
Strong Leadership Team
Enough reading… Now it’s time to ACT!
THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME for smart investors to seriously follow the ongoing E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) story.
E3 has plenty of potential to make a huge impact in the lithium market, with its massive land portfolio, globally-significant resource, and potentially industry-changing DLE technology.
So, do your due diligence, and don’t forget to click below to sign up for the company’s newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on any of E3 Lithium’s news and milestones.