PR99969

SYDNEY, April 21, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Novalith Technologies, creator of a novel lithium extraction process that will

unlock vast resources and deliver them without the environmental toll of

traditional approaches, has raised AU$23 million in Series A funding. Led by

Lowercarbon Capital, the round includes participation from the Clean Energy

Finance Corporation (CEFC), the Grantham Environmental Trusts' Neglected

Climate Opportunities Fund, TDK Ventures and Investible.

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The auto industry is in the midst of a once-in-a-century shift, replacing the

internal combustion engine with electric alternatives that rely on the same

core piece of technology: lithium-ion batteries. To fuel this revolution, the

world needs to produce up to 2.7 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent

by 2030, a 4-fold increase since last year. Until recently, most of the

energy-dense metal that the industry uses today came from brine resources:

naturally-occurring salt lakes concentrated in the "Lithium Triangle" countries

of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. These projects require large evaporation ponds

that are harmful to the environment, hard to get approved, and yield low

product purities.

Those challenges have spurred industry interest in hard rock resources, which

are plentiful and currently provide ~60% of the world's lithium but, based on

current methods, are difficult, expensive, environmentally harmful and can't be

brought online fast enough to meet demand. At Novalith Technologies, we have

pioneered a novel process that remakes hard-rock lithium extraction and

refining into a dramatically cheaper, greener and more scalable process.

Instead of the traditional method that relies on significant amounts of

sulfuric acid to extract lithium, a process that leaves behind a plethora of

harmful by-products and waste, Novalith uses carbonated water to extract the

lithium directly as battery grade lithium carbonate and leaves a by-product of

inert, CO2-infused rock.

Novalith's technology cuts process costs, plant costs, and plant footprints by

up to 65%, 50%, and 25%, respectively compared to the conventional process. It

uses 90% less water than current approaches and promises to supercharge the

energy transition by opening mineral resources in new geographies. When paired

with renewable energy sources, the technology opens a path to carbon-negative

lithium production.

Led by Steven Vassiloudis, a repeat entrepreneur and chemical engineer,

Novalith has assembled a team of top scientists, engineers, and fossil fuel

refugees working together to speed the arrival of the lithium century. This

funding will enable us to scale up and commercialise our patented LiCAL™

Technology, including a new pilot facility in Sydney, Australia, which will be

used to process numerous lithium resources from around the world and produce

lithium carbonate for testing by customers.

Since raising our seed funding round in August 2021, Novalith has built out our

R&D facility in Sydney, Australia, demonstrating the performance of our

patented process across several different local and global ore resources and a

path to sustainable and carbon-negative lithium production.

"It's a massive opportunity to be able to disrupt and meaningfully contribute

to something as important as electrification & decarbonisation. We are very

grateful to have the support of a strong group of mission aligned investors who

understand the urgency and significance of what we're aiming to achieve," said

Steven Vassiloudis, founder and CEO of Novalith. "Our technology has the

potential to significantly decarbonise the lithium supply chain as well as

unlock new lithium ore reserves and opportunities, providing low cost and

environmentally sustainable lithium to a world that is rapidly racing towards

an electric future."

"Novalith halves the cost of extracting lithium from hard rocks with tech

that's also cleaner and faster, giving us a shot to keep up with exploding

demand without turning the whole planet into an open-pit mine," said Chris

Sacca, Managing Partner of Lowercarbon Capital.

CEFC CEO, Ian Learmonth said: "Australia ranks amongst the largest lithium

producers in the world, and it's clear the world will need more lithium than it

has now. Novalith's ambitious technology is changing lithium production to make

it greener and more cost effective to power the batteries we need for the

storage and electric vehicles that are transforming our energy future."

Managing Partner Virescent Ventures Kristin Vaughan said: "By investing in

innovative Australian companies like Novalith, the CEFC is backing the

development of a sustainable potential on-shore solution for lithium production

and helping to strengthen the sustainability of supply-chain in Australia."

Virescent Ventures manages the Novalith investment on behalf of the CEFC.

"Novalith's innovative technology not only allows faster access to Lithium for

meeting our rapid electrification ambitions, but it also does so by converting

CO2 to valuable battery material, hence drastically reducing the overall CO2

footprint of the process," said Anil Achyuta, TDK Ventures' Managing Director.

About Novalith

Novalith Technologies is a Sydney, Australia based climate technology company

that uses carbon dioxide to simplify lithium chemicals production.

We are motivated by our belief that the future of lithium mining and refining

will require the elimination of carbon-intensive energy sources, and ideally

turn carbon waste into carbon value.

Novalith's LiCAL™ lithium extraction technology uses significantly less

equipment, chemical reagents, water and energy than conventional processing,

which reduces capital and production costs. The direct use and sequestration of

CO2 in producing lithium chemicals also produces a much smaller emissions

footprint than existing and alternative processes.

SOURCE  Novalith Technologies Pty Ltd

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