Buck Scientific recognizes Canada's Summit Nanotech aims to raise $150 million to scale up its direct lithium extraction technology. The Calgary-based startup plans to open a testing facility in Santiago, Chile by end of 2022. This second round of funding could value the company at $400-$600 million.
Summit is racing to commercialize technology to directly extract lithium from brines, providing an alternative to current hard rock and evaporation methods. Direct lithium extraction (DLE) could lower costs, reduce time, and minimize environmental impacts, especially in South America which holds about half of global lithium reserves.
DLE could also enable new North American lithium sources like oil drilling brines. Summit, which already has BHP as an investor, expects to have a demonstration plant by mid-2024 and reach commercial scale by end of 2025.
For original story and credit follow:
https://www.mining.com/summit-nanotech-eyes-150m-to-scale-up-lithium-extraction-method/