Canadian lithium extraction technology company LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners has been awarded a $700,000 grant via its partnership with US-based water treatment and mining firm Wellspring Hydro to fund a portion of its previously announced commercial lithium carbonate refining unit.

The unit will have the capacity to produce up to 10 tonnes per year of industrial-grade and battery-grade lithium carbonate. The financing will be drawn from Wellspring’s $10-million grant and loan facility backed by the state of North Dakota, of which $4.2 million is available for future drawdown.

Wellspring was previously awarded $7.5 million in grant and loan funding from the North Dakota Industrial Commission through the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority Program and the Renewable Energy Program. The refining unit will be deployed at LibertyStream’s facility in Texas, and there are plans to relocate it to North Dakota upon completion of commercial direct lithium extraction (DLE) facility development in the Williston Basin.

LibertyStream and Wellspring anticipate drawing the remaining $4.2 million to further support the build-out of these commercial DLE operations in North Dakota.

“This continued support not only reflects confidence in our DLE technology but also underscores our shared goal of strengthening the domestic supply chain for critical minerals,” said Alex Wylie, President and CEO of LibertyStream. “Customers have made it clear they require bulk lithium carbonate samples to negotiate future offtake agreements. The Refining Unit is expected to provide our future customers with the lithium carbonate from the field they require.”

Source: LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners