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LAtIn AMeRIcA

Lake opens the funding gates

A
An upcoming PFS on Lake’s Kachi lithium n upcoming PFS on Lake’s Kachi lithium
b
brine project in Argentina is expected to rine project in Argentina is expected to
c confirm a low cost of productiononfirm a low cost of production
hen it comes to technology, there is Before the COVID-19 pandemic insti- With a DFS and environmental studies to
Wno better third-party advocate than Bill gated major shutdowns around the world, begin imminently, Lake is turning its atten-
Gates. the Lake-Lilac partnership was gathering tion to securing about $US20-25 million of
The Microsoft founder has become an momentum with 20,000L of Kachi lithium debt funding to underpin its quest towards
unexpected supporter of Lake Resources brine samples delivered to Lilac’s pilot plant commercial production in 2023.
NL when his Breakthrough Energy Ven- in California, US. It comes after Lake recently pocketed
tures fund was the lead participant in a $3.4 million from an oversubscribed place-
recent $US20 million investment in the Ar- ment and a further $2.5 million from a sub-
gentine lithium hopeful’s technology partner sequent share purchase plan which will
Lilac Solutions Inc. help the company keep its head above
Breakthrough’s high-profile investor base water, especially with some timeframes
also includes the likes of Michael Bloomb- now uncertain due to the global COVID-19
erg, Amazon.com Inc president Jeff Bezos outbreak.
and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd co-founder “COVID-19 has shown us the need for
Jack Ma. diversification of supply chains,” Promnitz
“Having investors of that calibre speaks said.
volumes for the technology and also for its “We’re seeing strong interest from buyers
potential,” Lake managing director Steve because they want to get a premium prod-
Promnitz told Paydirt. uct out of a really well-known area which is
“These investors made their fortunes in- Steve Promnitz Argentina’s Lithium Triangle. We’ve got an
vesting in disruption. They recognise that opportunity here to scale up and so that
Lilac’s technology could be disruptive to the “Our task now is to prove the value of the funding is for a range of things to demon-
lithium brine industry while also producing Lilac technology by getting the samples strate that we can get on that critical time-
something that’s sustainable and scalable, into the hands of the offtakers, getting the line and basically keep ahead of the curve
and a premium product. pilot plant operating successfully, feeding and not lose six months.
“Naturally it’s raised the profile of both that into a full feasibility study and then be- “It was a real benefit that we have the
Lake as well as Lilac and investors want ing able to jointly pitch to some of the large brines actually in the US. We may even
to invest with other successful investors… electric vehicle manufacturers who are the send another batch there, just to make cer-
markets always say follow the money; ones really looking for sustainability in the tain that we can keep that going, while still
here’s a classic example.” supply chain,” Promnitz said. respecting the need for care with our peo-
For the past two years, Lake has pro- “If you’ve got a premium product and ple on the ground in Argentina as well as in
moted Lilac’s direct extraction ion exchange you’ve got something that’s at the low end the US.”
technology as the perfect fit for its Kachi of the cost curve with a sustainability angle COVID-19 has so far had limited impact
lithium brine project in Argentina’s Catama- and you’ve got large investors who think on Lake’s current activities, according to
rca province. Both companies have also that particular technology stands out over Promnitz, who added the company had
spruiked the innovative process as “signifi- and above others, that’s a pretty unusual sought waivers in both Argentina and the
cantly faster, cheaper and more scalable” but sweet spot to be in.” US for essential chemical industry opera-
than other existing lithium extraction meth- Over the coming months, Lilac will pro- tions.
ods. cess the Kachi brine into high-purity lithium The Argentine Government also recently
Lilac has indicated the funding will help chloride for conversion to battery-grade reaffirmed its ongoing support for growth of
ramp up efforts to commercialise its tech- lithium carbonate which will be sent to po- the country’s lithium sector.
nology, as well as expand its engineering tential offtakers. Once that phase is com- “All sectors have suffered from COV-
team and scale up production of the ion ex- plete, Lilac and Lake intend to move the ID-19, but the electric vehicle and energy
change beads which are core to the overall pilot plant to Argentina to continue the test storage sectors still need lithium batteries,”
lithium extraction system. work on site. Promnitz said. “That demand has maybe
Other groups to participate in the invest- Lake was also poised to release a PFS been postponed slightly, but it’s still there,
ment round were MIT’s The Engine fund, at the time of print which was expected to it’s still very real and we’re going to be well
Lowercarbon Capital and The Grantham confirm low production costs using the Lilac positioned.”
Foundation. technology.
– Michael Washbourne

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