Vanadium is the new battery cathode chemistry, says Pure Lithium CEO

The
company
says
it
has
found
a
way
to
make
lithium
batteries
from
scratch
going
from
“from
brine
to
battery”
in
less
than
48
hours.

“We’ve
taken
lithium
from
four
continents
around
the
world
and
have
made
it
into
a
pure
metal
electrode,” co-founder
and
CEO
Emilie
Bodoin
told

MINING.com
in
an
interview.
“We’re
not
that
particular
about
the
lithium
source
because
our
technology
and
our
end
product
is
very
different
than
what
everyone
else
is
doing.”

In
July,
Pure
Lithium

won
the
startup
Coup
de
Coeur
Award
at
the
World
Materials
Forum
for
its
battery-ready
lithium
metal
electrode
and
received
the

best
new
project
award
at
Fastmarkets,
competing
against
several
more
mature
companies. 

Oxy
Low
Carbon
Ventures
has
invested
$15
million
in
PL,
Bodoin
said,
adding
that
Canadian
firm

E3
Lithium has
been
supplying
the
company
with
concentrate
for
two
years.

Vanadium
–
the
game
changer

The
disruptor
in
PL’s
chemistry,
Bodoin
says,
is
vanadium. 

The
company
pairs
its
lithium
metal
anode
with
a
vanadium
oxide
cathode
that
was
invented
by
Nobel
Prize
winner
Stan
Whittingham,
a
key
figure
in
the
history
of
Li-ion
batteries.

The
company’s
intellectual
property
portfolio
(73
patents
pending)
includes
a
joint
patent
application
with
Professor
Whittingham,
who
did
the
testing
to
demonstrate
the
better
safety
profile,
Bodoin
said.

“It
works,
and
that’s
what
we’re
using.
It’s
a
simple
concept.
What
we’re
doing
is
so
different
than
any
other
company,”
Bodoin
said.

While
vanadium,
a
naturally
occurring
mineral
found
in
many
uranium
mines,
doesn’t
get
a
lot
of
attention,
it
is
more
abundant
than
nickel
in
North
America
and
readily
available
in
the
US,
which
alleviates
supply
chain
clogs.

There
are
active
projects
in
Nevada
–
the

Gibellini
vanadium
project,
owned
by
Nevada
Vanadium,
which
in
August

merged
with
Flying
Nickel
Mining,
completed
the
federal
permitting
process
last
year
for
what
could
be
the
first
primary
vanadium
mine
in
the
US.

US
uranium
producer
Energy
Fuels
is
also

producing
commercial
levels
of
high
purity
vanadium
at
its
White
Mesa
Mill
in
Utah.

“You
don’t
hear
a
lot
about
vanadium
–– it’s
going
to
be
the
new
cathode
chemistry.
It’s
pretty
perfect
for
lithium
metal.
And
you
can
fit
two
lithium
per
one
vanadium
in
it,
and
it
won’t
release
oxygen. The
stuff
is
so
stable
at
temperature,
it’s
better
than
LFP. It’s
better
than
anything,”
Bodoin
said.

“We
have
a
very
smooth,
even
elementally
pure
piece
of
lithium. So
you’ve
just
taken
a
ton
of
cost
and
processing
and
travel
out
of
the
biggest
problem
with
the
battery.”

Scaling
up
Boston
manufacturing
facility

PL
is
scaling
up
its
facility
in
Boston
to
manufacture,
and
Bodoin
said
the
company
will
continue
to
demonstrate
going
from
brine
to
battery
by
taking
E3’s
lithium
concentrate,
making
it
into
electrode
and
making
the
battery
in
the
same
facility,
which
it
aims
to
have
up
and
running
in
the
next
12
to
16
months. 

“We’ve
made
our
same
batteries
work
from
four
different
continents
worth
of
lithium
to
prove
that
we
have
a
very
robust
production
system,”
Bodoin
said.
“The
battery
has
to
be
really
cheap,
or
no
one’s
going
to
want
to
buy
it.” 

The
CEO,
who
has
been
in
the
battery
space
for
over
12
years,
looks
to
the
future
in
a
highly
competitive
market
with
confidence.

“If
you’re
a
DLE
company
on
shark
tank
with
me,
you
can’t
compete
because
I’m
making
a
whole
battery
and
all
the
components
for
the
battery.
So,
you’re
just
not
going
to
win.”