Lilac Options and Traxys North America have signed a 10-year settlement for 50,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate from a Utah facility. The deal secures full Section 1 manufacturing capability, doubtlessly doubling present US home lithium output for electrical automobile batteries.
Lilac Options has secured a binding 10-year offtake settlement with Traxys North America that will buy all the Section 1 manufacturing from its deliberate lithium extraction facility on the Nice Salt Lake in Utah. The deal represents a big step towards increasing home US lithium provide for the EV trade at a time when producers are searching for to scale back dependence on international sources.
Underneath the take-or-pay settlement, Traxys will buy 50,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate over the contract interval, equal to one hundred pc of the ability’s preliminary deliberate capability. The pricing construction is linked to market indices, although particular phrases weren’t disclosed.
The Section 1 facility is designed to provide 5,000 tonnes yearly of battery-grade lithium carbonate, which might practically double present US manufacturing ranges. For the broader EV trade, establishing extra home manufacturing capability addresses provide chain issues which have challenged automobile producers as they scale battery manufacturing to fulfill emissions rules and client demand.
Lilac’s expertise makes use of ion alternate processes to extract lithium from low-grade brine assets that conventional strategies can not economically course of. Pilot operations accomplished in 2025 achieved 87 p.c lithium restoration from brine containing simply 69 milligrams per liter of lithium, demonstrating the expertise’s viability on difficult feedstock.
“Traxys, one of many world’s main lithium merchants, has been a superb associate as we’ve developed this challenge, and formalizing this long-term offtake settlement is a key step towards attaining last funding resolution,” mentioned Raef Sully, chief govt officer of Lilac Options.
Martim Facada, managing director of lithium buying and selling at Traxys, said that “Lilac’s distinctive expertise and deep sector expertise mixed with Traxys’ international market attain, experience in pure assets and provide chain financing will contribute vastly to convey Lilac’s lithium carbonate to market to provide the lithium-ion battery trade.”
The challenge’s longer-term potential features a Section 2 growth that will enhance whole capability to twenty,000 tonnes per 12 months, approaching 4 occasions present home output. This scaled manufacturing might present a significant portion of the lithium wanted for North American battery manufacturing amenities presently below development or in planning levels.
Lilac has accomplished detailed engineering work and is coordinating with Utah regulators on development permits. The corporate’s extraction course of returns lithium-depleted brine to the lake with out consuming water, addressing environmental concerns which have difficult different lithium tasks. Ion alternate supplies shall be manufactured at Lilac’s Nevada facility.
