Olokun Minerals

A promise made is a promise kept! I am pleased to share my second article on critical minerals, this time focusing on innovation💡 While in the first article I sought to debunk misconceptions and explain why we need critical minerals for the energy transition, this time I focused on the role innovation can and must play to: ➡ Reduce the need for primary critical minerals - i.e. "new" minerals, as opposed to secondary, reused/recycled minerals ♻ ➡ Increase primary supply of critical minerals while reducing carbon emissions and the environmental impacts of exploration, extraction, processing and refining. We need new mines (I refer you to my first article if you want to know why), so let's make sure we get them out of the ground with the best possible practices⛏ If you'd like to find out more about some of the key innovations we're seeing in this field, check out: https://lnkd.in/eGWtDSjX And the good news is there are many more❗

Olokun Minerals was the proud recipient of $20,000 for second place during the 2024 Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Prize event last week. Thank you to Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) for the nomination and the DOE Office of Technology Transitions for the award! https://lnkd.in/e8x7hNE8

We celebrate collaboration this #WorldWaterDay! We are proud to partner with Capture6 and Elemental Excelerator to highlight how our collective efforts are helping to address global water demand. Swipe below to read more.

How are we making the best of #waste? What innovative strategies are being adopted to maximise the utilisation of resources from wastewater, ensuring both economic viability and environmental sustainability? Join industry experts as they look at the most efficient ways of optimising waste streams in this insightful session titled 'Valorising Side Streams: Resource Recovery Across the Supply Chain', With: Christos Charisiadis, Brine Innovation Manager – NEOM Portfolio, Worley, THE NETHERLANDS Andrea Aliscioni, Director of Integrated Water Service Division, MM Spa, ITALY Lacey Reddix, CEO, Olokun Minerals, USA With only four weeks left until the summit, don't miss out on the opportunity to be a part of these important discussions. Register today: https://bit.ly/49LJL1s

Cohort 2 innovator Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D. and her team at Olokun Minerals are tackling global water security and sustainable mineral extraction at the same time. The process diverts brine waste before it is discharged into the ocean and requires fewer chemicals, less #water, and lower energy consumption compared with other methods. She is able to secure critical minerals for the #cleanenergy transition, like lithium and magnesium, by providing treatment services for desalination, oilfields, #mining facilities, and industrial wastewater. https://bit.ly/3RlGCNv

🎁 Ho ho ho, it's Christmas time and Extantia's Santa has a special gift for you: our lithium deep dive. 💡 The protagonist of this article series needs no introduction - the lithium frenzy is a tale already known far and wide. But what often remains unexplored are the aspects of environmental impact and supply chain resilience. In this article, we dive into how this light but mighty element may be sourced more sustainably at scale. TL;DR 👉 To meet the demand in 2040, global lithium production will have to increase by an incredible 40x. 👉 Emerging technologies, such as direct lithium extraction (DLE) and battery recycling, are well positioned to change this by unlocking new resources and enabling lithium production to be scaled in a sustainable, cost- and energy-efficient manner. 👉 Five chemical technologies will be at the forefront of the DLE industry in the years to come: adsorption, ion exchange, solvent extraction, membrane separation and electrochemical separation/refining. 👉 Battery recycling will open up another type of lithium resource - end-of-life batteries. 👉 There are four main technologies for battery recycling: pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, direct recycling, and electrochemical. Want to get the full picture? Read the main article of the series, written by our Scientist in Residence Max Werny, PhD, to learn about DLE and recycling technologies that promise a greener, more resilient future for the lithium industry: https://lnkd.in/dkmq-6mp ✨ Happy Holidays and happy reading! Yair Reem Iris ten Have Fernanda Bartels #ClimateTech #VentureCapital #lithium

Many clean technologies require significant amounts of critical minerals, which are traditionally mined with carbon intensive methods. BE Fellows project Olokun Minerals is creating an efficient process to source minerals with a limited environmental impact. https://nt-z.ro/3sUDwbi

With demand for lithium growing twice as fast as production, the U.S. produces less than 2% of the global total. But Cohort 12's Olokun Minerals is helping build the domestic supply chain needed for batteries and other vital clean energy technologies by recovering critical minerals from unconventional water resources.💧 Olokun Minerals extracts multiple minerals like lithium, magnesium and sodium from sources like wastewater that might be discharged into the environment at desalination plants or geothermal sites. Compared to conventional mineral extraction processes, Olokun Minerals doesn’t use harsh chemicals or energy-intensive methods and the by-product of the process is cleaner water that can cycle back into natural ecosystems. Learn more and meet Cohort 12: https://lnkd.in/gRXCzQTw

Activation Capital, GO Virginia Region 4, and a broad coalition of stakeholders hosted the inaugural Central Virginia Regional Entrepreneurship Summit this week as we unveiled a new regional entrepreneurship action plan! “When we all show up and lock arms, things happen,” said Chandra Briggman, CEO of Activation Capital. The first ever summit was designed to motivate, inform, and inspire action as we mark the transition from planning to beginning our ambitious work together. Hosted at the Bon Secours Training Center, the event included welcoming remarks from Chandra Briggman, CEO of Activation Capital, and the Honorable Secretary Caren Merrick, Virginia Commerce & Trade. John Harthorne, Former CEO and Founder of MassChallenge, Founder and Managing Director at Two Lanterns Venture Partners, delivered an inspiring keynote address. The Central Virginia Regional Entrepreneurship Summit also included an informative presentation from Jen Finn, Co-Chair of Activation Council, who shared the collaborative work that has been performed by a wide array of stakeholders over the past year that will directly impact Small Business, Rural Business, Deep Tech Business, and Scalable Tech. Heather Lyne, Executive Director of the Hopewell Downtown Partnership, presented on the topic of rural and Main Street; Michael Mancini, VP of Entrepreneurship and Ecosystem Development at Activation Capital, presented on Deep Tech; and Richard Wintsch, Executive Director of Startup Virginia, presented on the topic of Scalable Tech. Additionally, Ace Callwood Director at Envoy, shared the importance of industry clusters, while Lauren M., Director of Economic Development & Community Engagement at Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation led an engaging panel discussion featuring Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D., of Olokun Minerals; Jill Donaldson of Pastry Base; Chaun Burnette, of EighthParallel; and Natalie Green, of Handmade on the Farm. Mark Webb, Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Dominion Energy, delivered the closing remarks to cap off an evening designed to celebrate our new regional entrepreneurship action plan! #innovationecosystem #innovation #mainstreet #deeptech #scalabletech #ruralbusiness #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship #activationcapital

🌟 🎩 Hats off to our very own Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D., a Cohort 2 innovator, whose Olokun Minerals has been accepted to Breakthrough Energy and Elemental Excelerator! She is making incredible strides working with salty wastewater streams, or brine waste, to solve two problems: preventing brine waste from being discharged into the environment and then taking minerals out of the water through a liquid separating technique so companies can use them in renewable technologies.   We know the innovation journey doesn’t stop here, and we’re excited to watch Pilanda and Olokun Minerals make their mark and transform the energy landscape.