Refining lithium
Several upstart miners appear to have had the same idea at about the same time. Spurred by increasing global demand for EVs, companies such as Prairie Lithium and LithiumBank Resources Corp. have bought land rights to nearby abandoned oil fields and begun developing extraction technology of their own. Doornbos, who spent years working in the oil industry, sees it as a small way for Big Oil’s detritus to lend itself to the energy transition.
Idle oil pump jacks in a field near Leduc, Alta., where Albertans first started drilling for oil. Pools of saltwater, which have developed under the depleted wells of the Leduc oil field, contain traces of lithium.Enter direct lithium extraction , an early-stage technology that seeks to hasten extraction while reducing water consumption — at a fraction of the cost.
The long and winding research and development process has delayed DLE companies and sparked impatience among investors. In the past year, some companies have seen their share price fall as hedge funds short their stock and investment research firms publicly question their commercial viability. The stock market hasn’t been particularly kind to E3, either: Doornbos watched his company’s share price drop 16.1 per cent in 2022, despite announcing a roughly $6.
Don't tell Alberta that. They want a return to the 70s with big oil