One World Lithium Inc (CSE:OWLI, OTCQB:OWRDF) has announced that it has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with MatterGreen LLC (MG), an arm’s length Oregon limited liability company, under which the two companies will complete an assignment of two separate divisional patent applications for lithium carbonation.
Vancouver-based One World Lithium (OWL) explained that this is a lithium extraction technology using an advanced carbon dioxide injection process covered by MG’s new non-provisional patent application. Following the assignment, OWL said it will be the sole and exclusive owner of the ‘OWL Divisionals' derived from the MG inventions.
“The lithium carbonation technology may have the lowest capital and operating costs in the lithium extraction and refining industry; could yield more than 99.5% battery grade lithium carbonate; even in very low concentrations; have the ability to separate lithium carbonate directly from a brine; and to separate the lithium carbonate at near room temperature and moderate pressure,” Jack Lifton, a senior consultant in chemical processing technology and an advisor to OWL, said in a statement.
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“The OWL technology has the potential to change the lithium extraction industry and could possibly be funded from either lithium carbonate consumers or traditional private equity funds,” he added.
OWL noted that the two divisional patent applications are for natural brine and slurries made from pegmatite, clay, volcanic rock and sediment. Additional patents may be filed in the future as a result of the research & development (R&D) work to be carried out with MG, it added.
The company said the LOI is a non-binding agreement and sets out the principal terms on which the parties have agreed to complete the assignment and license back. Subject to satisfactory due diligence and successful additional negotiations, it said the two parties intend to enter into a definitive agreement for the assignment and license back within 60 to 90 days of the entry of the LOI.
The basic terms of the LOI
Under the terms of the LOI, OWL said it will acquire the OWL Divisions in consideration for:
- A 7% gross royalty payable to MG from all income received by OWL from any process, procedure or product utilizing the OWL Divisionals during the term of the royalty;
- The issuance of 2,000,000 common shares in the capital of OWL, including 1,000,000 shares upon the completion of the assignment, 500,000 shares upon receipt by OWL of the first deliverable of a small pilot plant that will produce lithium carbonate, and 500,000 shares upon completion of a commercial size pilot plant that will produce lithium carbonate from brine and/or slurries. The full-scale pilot plant is the second deliverable that will complete the two-year research and development program;
- 7% net proceeds from the sale of OWL Divisionals and the technology developed by the project; and
- The payment by OWL of 50% of the legal costs associated with the completion of the Assignment, capped at OWL contributing US$22,500.
In addition, OWL said it has also agreed to fund certain R&D operations related to the OWL Divisionals, which will be conducted with MG. Accordingly, it has agreed to fund MG’s monthly management fees of US$8,000 to assist with R&D laboratory work. It also agreed to maintain its non-exclusive research and evaluation with an option from the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory during its option period.
Following the assignment, OWL said it has also agreed to license back to MG a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-bearing worldwide license to practice the OWL Divisionals and any technology or improvements arising out of MG’s lab work. In consideration for the license back, MG will pay OWL a 7% gross royalty back from all income received by MG from the use, sale or license from the license back.
“The objective is to commercialize OWL’s technology that rapidly, economically, and environmentally extract lithium and to generate lithium carbonate from a brine using an advanced carbon dioxide injection process and to reduce presently common consumables in existing production practices including adsorbents, absorbents, membranes and electrodes, and environmental burdens originating from substantial uses of local fresh water, acids, and solid chemicals,” MG concluded.
OWL noted that MG was founded by Dr Jinichiro Nakano, who specialized in material science and engineering, and who graduated with a PhD from McMaster University. From 2007 to 2022, Jinichiro was a principal scientist and technical fellow with the DOE at its National Energy Technology Laboratory in Oregon where he developed novel energy and material technologies that resulted in eight patents and 12 international recognitions.
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