VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MAX Power Mining Corp. MAXXMAXXF FSE: 89N))) (“MAX Power” or the “Company“) is pleased to report significant early progress in its co-operative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab, LBNL), a California-based U.S. Department of Energy laboratory managed by the University of California, to develop state-of-the-art direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies for brine resources (refer to May 15, 2023 news release).
Dr. Brett Helms and Dr. Michael Whittaker, two pre-eminent American research scientists at Berkeley Lab working in collaboration with MAX Power, are leading potential groundbreaking technology development focused on novel pre-treatment methods and a membrane-based approach to lithium extraction from a diverse range of brine resources in the United States and Canada (see video interview links with Helms and Whittaker included in this news release). Simultaneously, MAX Power is advancing a potential district- scale lithium brine/claystone project at the Willcox Playa in Arizona, southeast of Phoenix.
MAX Power and LBNL are incorporating innovative methods and novel materials into the DLE process to help unlock lower grade and challenging brine resources, lower production costs, and allow for higher throughput as an effective alternative to existing methods.
Highlights:
- The technology approach is focussed on a two-step DLE process that combines omnisolute pre-treatment with permselective extraction using novel polymer membranes;
- The pre-treatment techniques involve electrokinetic control over a range of inputs. The goal is to allow for a diverse brine pre-treatment for a wide variety of resource compositions;
- The project is utilizing new polymer membranes that feature ion-solvation cages to enable permselective transport of ions at a high rate to extract lithium from pre-treated brine.
Dr. Helms, co-founder of two deep tech Bay Area…
