## Volt Lithium Hits Major Milestone: Cracking In-House Battery-Grade Lithium Production

Volt Lithium just cleared a significant hurdle. The company has successfully produced 99.5% battery-grade lithium carbonate directly at its Calgary facility—and it's a game-changer for the lithium extraction space.

Here's what went down: Volt's team processed oilfield brine from its Rainbow Lake asset in Alberta using its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. The brine had an initial lithium concentration of 34 mg/L, and through a three-stage process, they managed to strip out 99% of impurities, extract 98% of the lithium, and refine it into a commercially viable product that meets industry standards for battery-grade specs.

**Why This Matters**

The real breakthrough isn't just that they did it—it's that they did it *in-house*. Most lithium producers have to ship their extracted material elsewhere for refinement, which costs time and money. By bringing the full cycle in-house, Volt slashes production costs and dramatically improves margins. For a company betting on becoming North America's first commercial producer of lithium hydroxide and carbonates from oilfield brine, this is proof the model actually works at scale.

**The Technical Edge**

Volt's DLE process operates in three tightly orchestrated stages. First, they treat and purify the raw brine using proven equipment—achieving that impressive 99% contaminant removal. Next comes the proprietary extraction phase, yielding up to 98% lithium recovery and producing high-quality eluate. Finally, they purify and concentrate that eluate, refining it into the final 99.5% pure lithium carbonate.

The sourcing brine came from the Keg River formation at the Feedstock Well, the same source they used for their pilot program in Q2 2023 and their preliminary economic assessment. Running the extraction at flow rates that simulate actual field conditions means what they proved in the lab should translate to real-world operations.

**What's Next**

The demonstration facility in Calgary gives Volt a serious competitive advantage. They can now test brines from across North America, proving the versatility of their DLE tech while staying laser-focused on commercialization. With oil and gas producers sitting on massive volumes of produced water, Volt's cost-effective, environmentally sustainable approach positions them to tap into a massive untapped value stream.

For Volt Lithium, this isn't just a press release—it's validation that their strategy to monetize oilfield brine for the clean energy transition actually pencils out.