Lithium: Northern Ontario Heritage Fund invests in Avalon

[caption id="attachment_1003718938" align="alignnone" width="500"] Flotation cells in operation producing petalite during pilot plant trials. Credit: Avalon Advanced Materials[/caption] Ontario is diversifying the Northern economy and helping create good new jobs for people in the North by supporting innovation at a mining company near Kenora. The province is supporting Avalon Advanced Materials as it develops an innovative new process to make lithium-ion batteries from petalite mineral deposits in the Kenora area. This support, through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), will allow the local mining company to test and demonstrate converting lithium mineral petalite into lithium hydroxide, a key component in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, which provide a rechargeable, sustainable and low-pollution source of energy storage. This new production process will enable Avalon Advanced Materials to further diversify the economy of the region, continue to grow its business and create and maintain 14 new local jobs. Ontario is investing $500,000 in this project through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. "The funding provided by the NOHFC will provide critical financial support to assist Avalon in piloting the innovative process developed to produce lithium battery materials from its Separation Rapids Lithium Project near Kenora. NOHFC and the Ontario government are to be commended for recognizing that Northern Ontario's mineral wealth can be leveraged to create the full energy storage supply chain in the province and help Ontario become a leader in the technology needed for the transition to a low carbon economy." —Donald S. Bubar, M.Sc., P.Geo, President and CEO, Avalon Advanced Materials