Lithium company sees potential for southeastern Sask.
Inside Prairie Lithium’s Emerald Park facility, the company is perfecting a method to process a mineral in extremely high demand amid a rising demand for batteries.
From the outside, it looks like any one of the many workshops that surround it.
Products like electric vehicles and cell phones are what convinced Don Bender, an engineer with the company, to enter the lithium processing field after a career in heavy oil.
“EVs started to hit mainstream, I got pretty excited about the technology and that got me excited about the underlying technology, which is the batteries that powered them,” Bender said.
Some lithium mining operations require an abundance of land, but that’s not the vision of the project. Instead, it uses a substance called “PLIX” – meaning Prairie Lithium Ion Exchange.
The PLIX is then mixed into salty brine extracted from deep below the ground at the company’s drilling rig near Torquay, Sask.
"The PLIX has hydrogen ions in it, and they swap places with the lithium ions in the brine, we then take that PLIX out of the brine, we wash it, then we recover it with a hydrochloric acid," Bender said.
The end product of the process – now in its third iteration – is a crude lithium chloride. It’s the first step towards battery-grade lithium, while the leftover brine is returned to where it was dug up.
“It wouldn't do any good if in order to transition to electric vehicles, we had to destroy our environment some more,” Bender said.
There are still questions around the future of the method, particularly whether it’s better to have one large processing plant or a series of smaller ones.
The demand for the substance is high, and the federal government recently announced a $4 billion plan for a series of rare elements, including lithium.
“We are certainly interested in fostering the development of processing related industries in this country, and so we have set aside money in the Critical Minerals Strategy,” Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said at a press conference in Vancouver on Dec. 9.
Prairie Lithium said the federal funding shows the interest in Canadian-made rare earth projects.
The company plans to launch a full pilot project in southeastern Saskatchewan based on the work being done in Emerald Park.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.