ASX: CRR - Critical Resources
- Matt Birney
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Critical Resources: Could this patented lithium battery tech change the playing field?
Critical Resources Managing Director Tim Wither on 3AW 2GB 6PR Bulls N' Bears Report
Listen to ASX-listed Critical Resources Managing Director Tim Wither talk to Matt Birney on the Bulls N’ Bears Report about the company’s successful testing of its battery tech that aims to deal with the issue of lithium batteries bursting into flames and giving drivers range anxiety.
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RADIO INTERVIEW - TRANSCRIPT
Matt Birney - Welcome to Bulls N' Bears, brought to you today by Critical Resources.
Matt Birney - ASX code: CRR
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney, and I'm joined now by the Managing Director of Critical Resources, Tim Wither.
Matt Birney - Hi, Tim.
Tim Wither - Hi, Matt.
Matt Birney - Okay, so Critical Resources has a lithium resource in Canada, gold, antimony and base metals in New South Wales, and gold in New Zealand. In parallel with its exploration projects, the company has the exclusive rights to evaluate some pretty cool solid-state lithium battery technology developed by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. That tech involves manufacturing lithium battery cathodes without using solvents or binders and the replacement of highly flammable liquid electrolytes in lithium batteries with a solid state electrolyte.
Matt Birney - Okay, Tim, you've just had a breakthrough with your cathode manufacturing process. We'll get to that in a minute. But firstly, just explain to me in layman's terms what's the problem you're trying to solve here with the current batch of lithium batteries?
Tim Wither - So, we can't currently take power banks onto airplanes, catching on fire. So, solid-state batteries offer a safer pathway. They remove the flammable electrolytes and also offer greater thermal management i.e. thinking of high temperature environments like data centres etc. Also offers higher energy density and so this is creates better performance longer EV range and higher reliability. Effectively the evolution of battery chemistry.
Matt Birney - Okay well you've just done some lab scale testing on Critical's new way of manufacturing battery cathodes. What were you testing for and what were the outcomes?
Tim Wither - Yeah so our US patents really solve how to manufacture solid-state batteries at scale so manufacturing is really the problem for all solid-state battery development and so our DSD project is effectively 3D printing battery layers. We've had some really early success and providing a real credible pathway towards manufacturing.
Matt Birney - So, if you can prove up this technology at scale, and I appreciate you've still got some work to do, what would the goals be in terms of battery performance when compared to the current way lithium batteries are made?
Tim Wither - The performance of battery really is dependent on the interface between the electrolyte and the cathode. And DSD is really having a high impact through removing the compression side of things. So it's proving the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte and that's where the performance is really gained for batteries and early stages we've been able to lay down the cathode material really successfully. So next steps is onto the electrolyte material.
Matt Birney - And when you say performance is the ultimate goal to get more range out of a say a Tesla battery for instance?
Tim Wither - Yeah so the energy density between a solid and a liquid electrolyte is multiple factors of times and we're talking very thin cathode and very thin electrolyte layers. And so the denser the material, the higher the energy density and therefore you're multiplying that range.
Matt Birney - Well, I know you've also got a lithium resource in Canada, so I can see a bit of vertical integration potentially happening there. Tim Wither from Critical Resources.
Matt Birney - Thanks for joining me on Bulls N' Bears and remember we're only here to give you information, not advice, which you should of course seek independently.
Matt Birney - I'm Matt Birney and this is Bulls N' Bears.
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