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Melbourne-based sustainable mining technology startup ElectraLith has raised $27.5 million in a Series A round led by Australian deep-tech investment fund Main Sequence to advance the company’s cleaner lithium extraction process.
The “materially oversubscribed” capital raising was supported by a syndicate of major investors comprising IP Group, Hostplus, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), Chevron Technology Ventures, Fathom Fund, Breakthrough Victoria, Vista Energy, Marathon Petroleum, In-Q-Tel and Monash University.
The fresh capital will be used by ElectraLith for the development and installation of its first field-deployed pilot plant which will be capable of producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide on site without requiring the use of water or chemicals. The company’s DLE-R technology is said to produce lithium hydroxide in a single-step.
“The Series A funds will enable DLE-R’s rapid development into what we believe will be the cleanest, most versatile and most cost-efficient method to extract and refine lithium,” says ElectraLith CEO Charlie McGill.
“The quality, breadth and scope of the Series A investor syndicate provides the strongest signal yet of DLE-R’s full potential.
“This includes four blue-chip strategic investors, three globally recognised venture capital firms, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, Breakthrough Victoria, and In-Q-Tel (IQT), the not-for-profit strategic investor for the US national security community and America’s allies.”
The investor support for ElectraLith, which was founded in 2021, comes on the heels of an announcement in August that the startup had produced battery-grade lithium hydroxide from salar brines, geothermal oilfield brines and spodumene leach using no water or chemicals and minimal energy.
Cleaner mining technology is seen as critical in driving the energy transition with the global lithium market projected to grow from $26 billion in 2025 to $37 billion by 2027.
Despite this growth forecast, the industry faces a significant supply gap due to the inefficiency of traditional mining methods which require evaporation ponds and hard rock mining, posing environmental challenges while also limiting access to a substantial portion of the world's lithium resources.
Direct lithium extraction (DLE) is widely recognised as a promising solution to these challenges by offering a faster, more efficient and environmentally sustainable method for lithium extraction.
While DLE still requires water and chemicals, and also requires a further carbon intensive refining process, this refining process is often performed in countries such as China, adding furthest supply chain complexity.
ElectraLith’s DLE-R process addresses these issues by offering a breakthrough one-step solution for lithium extraction and refining from any brine source using proprietary membrane technology initially developed at Monash University.
Unlike other DLE methods, DLE-R requires no water or harmful chemicals and is fully scalable, using modular, off-the-shelf equipment.
The technology has the potential to be powered entirely by renewable energy, providing a significant cost advantage to lithium miners.
“Rio Tinto continues to see the potential of ElectraLith's DLE-R technology to significantly reduce the economic cost and environmental impact of lithium production and we’re looking forward to trialling ElectraLith’s first DLE-R pilot in the near future,” says Travis Baroni, Rio Tinto’s chief advisor for battery minerals and an ElectraLith non-executive director.
Main Sequence investment manager Jun Qu notes that ElectraLith is paving the way to a sustainable future by revolutionising lithium extraction and refining.
“We’re impressed by ElectraLith’s groundbreaking technology, which eliminates the need for water and chemicals and can operate entirely on renewable energy,” says Qu.
“Traditional lithium extraction is creating an unsustainable burden for our planet. ElectraLith’s solution is not only far more sustainable but also has the potential to disrupt the cost curve for lithium production.
“We are excited to support the ElectraLith team and are eager to see the transformative impact they will have on the lithium supply chain.”
Breakthrough Victoria, which invested $2 million in the Series A raise, sees ElectraLith’s technology as the next generation of lithium extraction and refining that it says can unlock the potential of a greener future.
“Our investment underscores our commitment to supporting innovations that drive the green energy transition and position Victoria as a leader in critical technologies," says Breakthrough Victoria’s acting CEO Lauren Morrey.
Chevron Technology Ventures’ investment comes through its $300 million Future Energy Fund II, which focuses on industrial decarbonisation, emerging mobility and energy decentralisation.
“The technology developed by ElectraLith has the potential to reduce the cost, energy, waste and water intensity of direct lithium extraction and refining, which could provide an attractive alternative to incumbent technologies” says Jim Gable, president of technology ventures at Chevron.
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