Canadian lithium developer E3 Lithium has met all the conditions required to receive Canadian federal government funding worth $36-million to advance Phase 3 of Clearwater project's demonstration facility and the project's overall feasibility study, in Alberta.

Having executed a contribution agreement for the non-repayable funding through Natural Resources Canada's Global Partnerships Initiative (GPI), E3 will have enough funding to support 75% of the Clearwater project's $48-million capital requirement for the current works underway.

The funding is retroactive to April 1, and the company can claim eligible expenses from the start of the second quarter.

This support through the GPI will enable E3 to accelerate the development of its Clearwater project at a critical juncture as the company looks to complete major technical deliverables for Stage 1 of commercial operations.

“Canada is building strong domestic critical minerals value chains, and that means investing at the stages that matter most in getting projects over the line. Through GPI, we are supporting the engineering, demonstration and feasibility work needed for E3 Lithium’s Clearwater project to reach final investment decision (FID). This is how we move faster, reduce risk and ensure sustainable, sovereign Canadian lithium can power our economy at home and supply our allies abroad,” says Canada Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

E3 began ramping up aspects of this project beginning in April this year, upon conditional approval of the funding, explains E3 CEO and chairperson Chris Doornbos. “With the execution of the contribution agreement, E3 is now fully executing towards some of the biggest technical milestones we have in front of us, aiming to significantly derisk our Clearwater project ahead of the FID. We appreciate the government of Canada’s support in advancing a domestic lithium supply chain and strengthening Canada’s position in the global critical minerals market.”

The federal funding provided through the GPI will also support 75% of the costs of the company’s current technical team, as well as the commitment to hire up to an additional 25 new technical staff and operators.

WORKS UNDERWAY

With the contribution agreement having been secured, E3 has started equipment orders required to complete the third and final phase of the demonstration facility. Phase 3 includes operation of the previously commissioned 30-column direct lithium extraction (DLE) and purification/carbonation skids, along with the construction and operation of a commercial-size, single DLE column.

The company expects to achieve increased production volumes of battery-grade lithium carbonate, which will enable E3 to continue progressing product qualification with offtake partners and evaluate commercial battery supply chain value opportunities.

The successful completion of Phase 3 of the demonstration facility is a major derisking milestone for the company and will be a critical component in the evaluation of the Clearwater project by potential strategic and offtake partners, project financiers and any potential additional government support.

E3’s goals for Phase 3 of the demonstration facility include demonstrating lithium recovery rates greater than 85% through the single commercial column and producing lithium chloride at an equivalent rate of up to 100 t/y of lithium carbonate.

The GPI funding will also support E3’s completion of the Clearwater project feasibility study, which targets 12 000 t/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate in Stage 1. The study is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2027.

The engineering scope will include the final designs for the reservoir development, gas-handling system, lithium extraction and purification, and lithium carbonatation. While Phase 3 of the demonstration facility aims to support process validation and readiness for project financing, the feasibility study and related engineering represent the company’s final major technical milestones prior to detailed engineering and advancement toward an FID.

The company has retained globally recognised engineering firm Sedgman to lead the front-end engineering design for the Clearwater project.

Sedgman’s expertise in process plant design and project execution is expected to support advancement of the Clearwater project toward final engineering, cost estimation, and FID.

Sedgman is currently involved in the engineering and delivery of other advanced lithium processing facilities incorporating DLE technologies, including projects progressing toward commercial-scale implementation.