Paris-headquartered lithium processing technology company Adionics has been backed by Chile’s SQM in a US$27 million series B equity financing which also drew further investment from Bpifrance, Supernova Invest, Celeste Management and Ovive.
Adionics, founded in 2012, says it wants to be “the leader in DLE [direct lithium extraction] technologies”, a field that currently includes about half a dozen other serious players that have all attracted significant investment.
New York Stock Exchange-listed lithium major SQM is spending circa-US$1.5 billion to halve the volume of brine it pumps to produce lithium from Atacama salars in northern Chile by about 2030. At the same time it is aiming to lift annual production of lithium carbonate equivalent to 220,000-250,000 tonnes from the district, home to some 25% of the world’s current supply of lithium.
SQM, which has a current market value around US$15 billion, wants to modernise its evaporation and brine extraction processes, improve operating yields and adopt the use of seawater via a desalination plant.
DLE is in the mix to help improve lithium extraction rates but needs to be proven at scale.
Adionics CEO Gabriel Toffani says the company has been advancing a closed-loop, liquid-liquid extraction process that uses its patented Flionex customised fluid-based system to lower water use and boost lithium recoveries.
“This [fund-raising] marks a pivotal moment in Adionics’ journey to revolutionise the lithium extraction industry with our environmentally friendly and efficient technology,” Toffani said.
“This new funding will enable us to scale our operations, expand our global footprint, and continue our clean technology research and development efforts.
“Our three pre-industrial pilots are already making an impact and we look forward to scaling-up to serve an even broader global customer base. Importantly, this partnership with SQM … enhances our capabilities while we maintain our independence in the marketplace.
“This autonomy is critical as we continue to partner with other mining companies and innovate in the lithium extraction industry to be the DLE leader.”
SQM executive VP Carlos Diaz said the partnership with Adionics was “a strategic step in the development of our Salar Futuro project”.
“We look forward to working together with the Adionics team on further development and industrial testing of their breakthrough technology, which has already demonstrated outstanding results in lithium yield and purity,” he said.