“
We have a great
resource base, and our oil and gas industry has set us up to pursue a more environmentally
Alberta Geological Survey/Alberta Energy Regulator
Alberta emerging as a new lithium player As global demand for lithium accelerates, driven by rapid growth in electric vehicles and battery storage, Alberta is emerging as a new player in a market long dominated by countries such as Chile, Argentina, and Australia. Approximately two million hectares have already been leased for lithium exploration in Alberta, and the province is a hot spot in the nascent DLE industry. Project Image #5 - Image Comment & Photo Credit included below the image in a smaller font: The E3 Lithium pilot plant near Olds, Alta., September 2023. Photo courtesy CP Images E3 Lithium is the province’s most advanced lithium developer. The Calgary-based company produced Alberta’s first battery-grade lithium carbonate at its demonstration facility near Olds in 2025. The milestone marked a major step toward commercial production and validated the technical feasibility of extracting lithium from Alberta brines.
Path to commercialization E3’s project leverages Alberta-based DLE technology and existing oilfield infrastructure, and the company is working toward commercial-scale production later this decade. “Nobody has proven they can do DLE production at commercial scale yet,” Mohler said. “The potential for Alberta to be among the first is very good if they can make the economics work, and I think following the oil and gas industry’s value chain of having companies specialize in upstream production, transportation, processing, and refining will likely be a good business strategy.”
friendly way of producing lithium.
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The E3 Lithium pilot plant near Olds, Alta., September 2023. Photo courtesy CP Images
134 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 26 ISSUE 3
INNOVATION • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE 135
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