Hertz Lithium licenses Penn State extraction technology

Hertz Lithium (CSE: HZ; OTCQB: HZLIF) has signed a license agreement with Penn State Research Foundation for a royalty-bearing, exclusive licence to Penn State’s patent-pending process for extracting lithium from hard rock ore sources. Hertz has also been granted a licence to certain technologies necessary to derive the benefits of the patent rights. Hertz has the right to sublicense the technology.

Spodumene mineral is the major source of high-purity lithium; however, current technologies do not allow leaching of lithium from alpha-spodumene, and therefore most of the current methods involve roasting.

The Penn State technology begins with taking spodumene concentrate, introducing sodium hydroxide, and then proceeding with conventional or microwave roasting which transforms the alpha-spodumene into a soluble phase. Next, water leaching is currently used to recover up to 95% of the water-soluble lithium.

Kal Malhi, CEO of Hertz Lithium, said, "Owning the worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize this patent-pending extraction process is a major differentiator for us in the lithium mining and exploration industry. We are in discussions with commercial lithium extraction experts and potential partners to join our team and begin the next phase of development towards a pilot plant-stage demonstration of this technology.”

Hertz Lithium owns the AC/DC and Snake lithium properties in the James Bay Region of Quebec. Learn more on www.HertzLithium.com.