JAKARTA The growth of the electric vehicle industry is now making the battery business very interesting. Many companies are competing to make and find the most efficient batteries to support this automotive industry.
Compass Minerals International Inc announced on Wednesday, September 14, that it will use lithium extraction technology developed by EnergySource Minerals LLC to produce metal electric vehicle batteries for Ford Motor Co and others.
Authorities in Washington have now urged US companies to find a more environmentally friendly way to increase domestic battery metal production and reduce the country's dependence on China.
Compass opted for EnergySource's direct lithium extraction technology (DLE) over its four competitors and plans to use it alongside existing evaporation ponds to remove battery metal from Great Salt Lake in Utah.
Compass says it has spent more than two years studying EnergySource technology and is confident it can start producing 10,000 tonnes of lithium annually by 2025.
"This is the right technology for these resources," Compass executive Ryan Bartlett told Reuters.
Compass on Wednesday also said it would sell 252 million (IDR 3.7 trillion) shares to Koch Industries Inc and use the proceeds to fund its lithium project. Compass currently has a lithium supply deal with Ford and LG Energy Solution Ltd.
This partnership is the first technology license by Private EnergySource, which counts oilfield giant Schlumberger NV and mining investment firm TechMet as investors. EnergySource technology relies on the adsorben that separates lithium from motorcyclists in salt water.
EnergySource is developing its own DLE project in Salton Sea California, but warned last June that the state's recently enforced lithium tax could force it to invest elsewhere.
Eric Spomer, EnergySource's chief executive, said Kompas' partnership was not related to California taxes. "But there are a lot of salted water resources in North America," said Spamer.
Elsewhere, some of DLE's partnerships recently deteriorated. Lake Resources NL plans to find arbitration to resolve the dispute with Bill Gates-backed Lilac Solutions Inc.
Even the government in Bolivia, which holds the world's largest lithium resource, is now separated from EnergyX.
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