The US Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council has announced the federal permitting of two DOE-supported lithium processing projects.

The projects—Kings Mountain and Liberty Owl—are aimed at increasing lithium processing capacity in the US in order to develop more secure domestic supply chains.

The Kings Mountain, NC Project, owned by chemical manufacturer Albemarle, is receiving a $150-million federal award through DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC). The project supports the construction of a new commercial-scale processing facility that will have the capacity to produce 350,000 tons per year of lithium oxide concentrate.

The Liberty Owl Project in the Texarkana region is owned by TerraVolta, a US-based critical minerals and resources company. This project is receiving a $225-million award through MESC for the construction of a commercial-scale lithium extraction and refining facility to produce battery-grade lithium from domestic brine resources from the Smackover region.

Source: US Department of Energy