Company claims facility will produce enough battery-grade materials annually to power 25,000 EVs.
Vancouver-based Mangrove Lithium has closed $35-million USD ($50.4-million CAD) in strategic financing to start construction on its new lithium refining plant.
Participants in the round include new investors Mitsubishi, Asahi Kasei, provincial innovation agency InBC, Orion Industrial Ventures, and Export Development Canada. The round was also supported by some of Mangrove’s existing investors, such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BMW i Ventures, and BDC Capital.
Mangrove claims its new plant will be North America’s first electrochemical lithium refining facility, and aims to enhance the lithium supply chain and bolster regional energy security, especially as China weighs export restrictions on critical minerals like lithium. Mangrove added the plant is slated to be operational later this year and will produce enough battery-grade materials to power approximately 25,000 electric vehicles (EVs) each year.
“Establishing North America’s first electrochemical lithium refining facility marks a key milestone in securing the continent’s battery supply chain,” Mangrove CEO Saad Dara said in a statement. “Our Delta plant will help meet the growing demand for battery-grade lithium while enhancing energy independence amid rising geopolitical uncertainties.”
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Mangrove claims the facility will be built around its “breakthrough” electrochemical process that significantly cuts production costs and the carbon footprint of battery-grade lithium.
Mangrove was founded in 2013 and spun out from a research group led by David Wilkinson, Canada Research Chair in clean energy and electrochemical technologies at the University of British Columbia’s engineering school. The company’s tech directly converts raw lithium from brines, hard rocks, clays, and direct extractions into lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate, which can then be turned into battery-grade lithium. Mangrove also refines lithium hydroxide from recycled batteries.
The startup secured a $10-million USD ($12.6-million CAD, at the time) Series A round in November 2021 from BDC Capital as well as Breakthrough, a climate solution-focused funding platform founded by Bill Gates. In May 2022, Breakthrough returned to invest in another financing round led by BMW i Ventures.
Feature image by Possessed Photography via Unsplash.