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One World Lithium (CSE: OWLI) announced Thursday that the delivery of specialized industrial nanobubble generators from Moleaer to both the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the University of British Columbia has been successfully completed.
The deployment of on-site equipment expands upon the successful lab work that yielded two patent-pending applications in June 2023, the company said.
In June 2026, OWL engaged UBC and UCI to work alongside nanobubble technology company Moleaer to accelerate the R&D work on the company’s single-step direct lithium carbonation extraction (DCLE) technology.
In August, the company closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement, issuing 7,547,142 units at CAD $0.035 per unit to fund ongoing technology development and working capital.
This collaborative, the company said, transitions OWL’s proven bench-scale success into a mobile, containerized pilot plant capable of direct lithium carbonate production from natural brines, eliminating traditional costly and environmentally intensive concentration methods.
Moleaer will assist OWL and the universities in constructing the first field-test pilot plant at Moleaer’s facilities in Los Angeles and is scheduled to begin in early 2027 while continuous laboratory testing remains underway.
Research will center on validating and optimizing the DLCE process, which utilizes a carbon dioxide (CO2) nanobubble extraction method to separate lithium from natural brines. The objective is to transition toward a field-ready pilot system that demonstrates direct lithium carbonate production.
In tandem with lithium extraction, the research teams will evaluate the recovery and co-production of additional high-value industrial carbonates from brine, including sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Acid-free lithium clay extraction
In phase 2, laboratory teams will conduct test work on lithium bearing clay to formulate an effective lithium slurry.
The goal is to validate the DLCE technology’s ability to produce lithium carbonate under varied conditions without requiring sulfuric acids, soda ash, sorbents, or multiple energy-intensive concentration steps.
Unlike conventional evaporation pond operations and standard DLE technologies, DLCE does not require pre-concentration, base concentration, or post-concentration stages.
While traditional methods yield lithium intermediates that require extensive downstream chemical refining, OWL’s objective is to achieve a true, single-step direct production of lithium carbonate, it said.