The companies, which retained Hatch Engineering in early August to help them scale upward, used the newly developed molecular sieve technology to hit the benchmark. The continued development of polymeric membranes has also resulted in a 90% reduction in lithium costs and system mineral extraction components versus the originally designed platforms.

Testing has been performed on the new molecular sieve technology, and it has been confirmed for commercial-scale use, MGX said, with its recent batch testing returning 20x lithium concentration and low selectivity for other ions.

Two systems are now ready for deployment to the Alberta oil sands and upgrades are being done to include improved technology alongside ongoing site engineering and integration.

MGX was founded in 2012 as a conventional mining company and is now a diversified cleantech firm. Its technology has shown cost and quality enhancement benefits for various brines, including petrolithium, natural brine, mine and plant wastewater and more.

MGX and PurLucid first announced an acquisition and engineering partnership agreement in September 2016.