Energy Exploration Technologies has signed a binding agreement with trading giant Trafigura to supply 100,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium over ten years. At current prices of about $20,000 per tonne, the deal will bring EnergyX more than $2 billion in revenue. The product will come from the company’s two flagship projects: Black Giant in Chile and Lonestar in Texas.
The agreement covers lithium carbonate from Chile and lithium hydroxide from the Texas facility in Hooks. In March, EnergyX commissioned the Lonestar demonstration plant with a capacity of 250 tonnes of carbonate equivalent per year. It is located in the Smackover Formation, a lithium-bearing brine reservoir stretching from Florida to Texas. It is the state’s first direct lithium extraction facility processing local feedstock. The plant is meant to demonstrate gains in efficiency, recovery, and cost competitiveness, factors that have historically hindered the development of lithium processing outside China.
Today, China controls roughly 70–75% of global lithium chemical production capacity, creating a bottleneck in the global battery supply chain. As a result, the US depends on overseas processing.
In July, EnergyX raised $225 million from Italy’s Eni SpA in exchange for a minority stake in the Black Giant project in Chile’s Antofagasta region. Its design capacity is up to 52,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year across the first two phases. The company also received a letter of interest from the US Export-Import Bank for $690 million in debt financing for the project.
According to CEO Teague Egan, a significant portion of the supply will go into the American battery chain. Lonestar has been operating longer than Black Giant, but the Chilean project has more engineering work behind it for a commercial-scale operation, and it has already received EXIM financing. The target start-up of Black Giant’s first commercial phase is set for 2028, and Lonestar’s for 2029.
Egan stressed that a long-term contract with a buyer of this scale and credit quality confirms demand for EnergyX’s product and gives lenders and investors revenue visibility before they commit to construction.
Production will run on the company’s proprietary direct lithium extraction technology, GET-Lit, protected by more than 150 patents. Daniel von Arx, Trafigura’s head of battery metals, noted that the agreement reflects the company’s ability to bring strategic critical minerals projects to market and build reliable, diversified supply chains.
The Trafigura deal turns EnergyX from a technology developer into a supplier with guaranteed offtake for a decade. If both projects meet the stated timelines, the company could become a notable player in the Western lithium supply chain, reducing the industry’s dependence on Asian processing.
Source: MINING.COM
Image: EnergyX
