Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Oakland-based Lilac Solutions raised $20 million in Series A funding to continue working on a new ion exchange technology for lithium extraction from brine resources. According to the company, the mechanism is significantly faster, cheaper, and more scalable than existing technology.
Lilac reports having successfully demonstrated the system’s capabilities at large scale, and with dozens of brine resources from around the world.
The new funding is aimed at expanding the company’s engineering team, scaling up production of its unique ion exchange beads, which form the core of the company’s lithium extraction system, and deploying the Lilac technology in areas beyond its current US and South American operations.
“With Lilac unlocking significant new supplies of lithium, battery manufacturers are poised for decades of growth as the world transitions to electric vehicles and renewable power,” Dave Snydacker, the firm’s founder and CEO, said in a media statement.
