Bill Gates’ Breakthrough, BMW and Canada back lithium refiner

Lithium refiner Mangrove Water Technologies Inc. secured $85 million from the Canada Growth Fund, BMW AG’s i Ventures and Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy LLC.

The “structured financing package” will support the company’s commercial facility in Delta, which neighbors the US border south of Vancouver. It will also help the firm move toward a second, much larger plant, which could contribute to powering half a million electric vehicles per year, Canada’s Finance Department said in a statement Thursday. 

The C$15 billion ($10.8 billion) arms-length government-backed Canada Growth Fund led the package with a contribution of up to $65 million, according to the statement. It has a mandate to spur investment in technologies that reduce emissions.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said in the statement that her government is focused on “ensuring that the minerals mined in Canada are refined in Canada.”

A year ago, the firm closed a $35 million funding round with backing from Mitsubishi Corp., Asahi Kasei Corp., InBC Investment Corp., Orion Industrial Ventures, Export Development Canada and BDC Capital, as well as Breakthrough and BMW i Ventures.

At the time, founder Saad Dara said it was a critical solution to develop secure supply chains in the context of tense geopolitics between western countries and Asian markets.

(By Thomas Seal)