U.S. steps away from flagship lithium project with Berkshire - Reuters.com

A "big part" of those efforts, the president said, was Berkshire Hathaway Inc's (BRKa.N) plan to filter lithium from superhot geothermal brines swirling beneath California's Salton Sea, something that had never been done before.

Department of Energy had chosen Berkshire the day Biden was inaugurated in January 2021 for a $14.9 million grant to study how Salton Sea-region lithium could be used to make lithium hydroxide, a specialized type of the metal that produces more efficient and longer-lasting EV batteries.

Two weeks later, though, the Energy Department rescinded the grant, according to emails and documents obtained by Reuters, after Berkshire requested what the Energy Department called a "material change" to its lithium project.

The Energy Department's March 9, 2022, letter telling Berkshire it was rescinding the grant said the move was "the result of a mutual decision" and would not bar Berkshire from applying for future federal funding.

In a statement to Reuters, Berkshire said it had planned to develop "a first-of-its-kind demonstration plant to produce lithium hydroxide" but "subsequently decided to use a commercially proven process" to produce lithium carbonate instead.

For the first challenge, the California Energy Commission gave Berkshire a $6 million grant in May 2020.

As part of its agreement with the state, Berkshire said it would use DLE technology from another company, AquaMin Lithium and Water Recovery Inc.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) said its funding for Berkshire was not affected by the loss of the Energy Department grant.

The region's brine teems with lithium, calcium, sodium and other minerals that are very complex to separate, said Corby Anderson, who teaches metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines.

Department of Energy grant was focused on the second challenge, turning the extracted lithium into lithium hydroxide.

"Batteries should last longer and therefore be more sustainable" with hydroxide, Eric Smith, Berkshire's vice president of lithium development, said during a July 2021 presentation to Salton Sea-region officials.

If and when Berkshire is able to extract the lithium from the Salton Sea brine, making carbonate would be less complicated and expensive than making hydroxide.

The day after Biden touted Berkshire's project, the company privately asked the Energy Department to change the grant's scope and let it make carbonate instead of hydroxide, according to the emails obtained by Reuters through a public records request.

Emails show the Energy Department had warned Berkshire in December 2021 - two months before Biden's minerals roundtable - that talks on grant terms had reached an "impasse.".