will announce on Tuesday an investment in lithium technology startup EnergyX as it expands further into the mining industry, the latest deal by the auto giant to ensure long-term supplies of the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries.
Brine deposits are essentially salt-infused waters found throughout the globe. Many teem with lithium, calcium and other minerals, and DLE technologies aim to separate out the lithium and leave the rest. GM, which declined to say how much of the Series B round it was funding, will have the right of first refusal to buy lithium from any projects that EnergyX develops.
EnergyX has said its technology can make lithium metal directly from brine, a tantalizing prospect for GM that could let the auto maker bypass lithium refining, which is widely seen as a key supply chain bottleneck. GM’s investment is a major vote of confidence in EnergyX, which was stung last year when officials in Bolivia – home to the world’s largest lithium resource – disqualified the startup from a DLE selection process.