Lithium well a ‘gamechanger’ for energy transition in Alberta

Source: Ciara Yaschuk | · GLOBAL NEWS · | September 23, 2022

In a province that has been drilling for generations and known for its oil and gas, this is a first.

A rig in Alberta’s historic Leduc oilfield isn’t drilling for oil, but lithium.

In June, Imperial Oil Ltd. announced it had signed a deal to invest $6.35 million in E3 Lithium, a Calgary-based junior resource company that has developed a technology to extract the naturally occurring lithium — a light metal that is a key component in the batteries used in electric vehicles — from oilfield brines.

Alberta has one of Canada’s largest lithium resources, though there was little interest in developing a lithium industry until the recent growth of electric vehicles and an exponential rise in demand for lithium ion batteries.