NORAM Electrolysis Systems Inc. (NESI) is proud to announce the successful commissioning of our new, fully automated Lithium Electrolysis Validation Centre, producing its first battery grade lithium hydroxide from client-provided lithium feed. This accomplishment has been made possible through months of hard work by NESI staff, significant financial support through a $4.5-million contribution from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and its Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program, and continuous support of our partners including the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) Industry Technology Advisors.
With commissioning of this facility, NESI can now process and validate industrial scale volumes of client-supplied lithium brines from around the world using a truly representative electrochemical processing facility, validating our membrane electrolysis technology on a full range of lithium-rich feedstocks from hard-rock deposits, salt deposits, geothermal brines, recycled batteries and more. As each feedstock has its unique composition and properties, our Lithium Electrolysis Validation Centre can de-risk lithium refining projects, validating NESI’s process pathway to clean, high-purity, low-emissions battery-grade lithium. The 500 Tonnes per year (TPY) Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate (LHM) nameplate capacity of the Lithium Electrolysis Validation Centre brings the total capacity of our Mitchell Island facility to 1000 TPY LHM.
“Canada’s critical minerals sector is key to building a strong economy and ensuring Canada seizes the opportunities posed by the global energy transition. NESI’s new Lithium Electrolysis Validation Centre strengthens Canada’s leadership in clean technology and low-emission lithium refining. Canada’s new government is laser-focused on projects like this, that get resources to market faster, create good jobs, and reduce environmental impacts,” said The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
“NORAM’s Validation Centre is exactly the kind of project Canada needs: turning innovation into production, strengthening energy security, and getting critical minerals to market faster. It’s a win for Richmond, for Canadian workers, and for Canada’s clean-technology leadership,” said Parm Bains, Member of Parliament for Richmond East—Steveston.
“With the opening of the Lithium Electrolysis Validation Centre, we are taking a significant step toward establishing the capabilities and infrastructure needed to fully industrialize sustainable electrochemical lithium refining for midstream lithium processing, ensuring Canada secures its place in the global energy transition. We sincerely appreciate the support from NRCan and NRC IRAP, which has enabled us to commercialize our made-in-Canada technology for sustainable lithium refining. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with NRCan, as well as with domestic and international partners, as we commence large-scale operations at our Vancouver-based centre,” Jeremy Moulson, President and CEO, NESI.
Our new Validation Centre allows project developers to confirm the performance of our technology without the cost or time of on-site demonstration plant, giving them an economic, fast-tracked pathway to an environmentally sound, permitting-friendly, low-OpEx process to accelerate their projects. In addition to processing client provided lithium feedstocks, the Validation Centre enables confirmation of feedstock compatibility, industrial plant engineering design criteria, confirmation of project economic assumptions, development of performance guarantees and production of large volumes of high purity lithium products from the actual resource. All of these enable our customers and partners to make timely decisions on projects and get their resources to market faster and more economically.
Our Made-In-Canada technology offers lithium refiners a clean pathway to delivering their product with our “Just Add Electrons” approach. The use of costly concentrated chemical reagents is virtually eliminated, as electricity is used instead of chemicals in the lithium refining process. This reduces carbon emissions, eliminates aquatic waste, reduces operating expenditures and produces a high-purity product. Construction of the Validation Centre has been completed on time and on budget. NESI has already signed multiple agreements with project developers, both Canadian and international, to use the validation centre in 2026 for electrolysis validation testing. Through these validation campaigns, substantial volumes of lithium hydroxide products are produced, which are used for product verification and sale, meaning that NESI will be producing batches of battery-grade lithium for sale to market, a first for British Columbia.
