Critical Resources Limited (ASX:CRR) secures option over SDM solid state battery patents

Critical Resources has broadened its scope beyond upstream lithium exploration, entering an exclusive option with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to evaluate a suite of solid state lithium ion battery technologies protected by five granted United States patents and one pending application.

The arrangement frames a structured evaluation pathway while preserving a focus on the company’s existing resource portfolio.

Highlights

• Exclusive global option to assess SDM’s portfolio of five granted patents and one pending application in solid state lithium ion technologies.

• Technologies are non sulphide and are designed to improve safety, conductivity at elevated temperatures and charge rate performance.

• Microwave synthesis is presented as a route to scalable, lower cost and higher yield electrolyte production with improved manufacturing consistency.

• The program will test performance and prototype cells during the option period, with a potential licence to be negotiated on exercise.

• CRR’s Mavis Lake inferred resource totals 8.0 million tonnes at 1.07 percent Li₂O, providing potential alignment with downstream evaluation.

The portfolio addresses practical constraints that have limited commercial deployment of solid state cells, notably heat management, dendrite formation and manufacturing economics.

SDM’s non sulphide halide and glass ceramic electrolytes are designed to avoid toxic by products that can arise in sulphide systems, while enhancing stability with lithium metal and compatibility with current lithium ion architectures.

The related cathode interface work, including polyoxometalate functionalisation and conductive polymer nanocomposites, targets lower interfacial resistance and durability at high rates, which are material considerations for grid storage, transport and data centre applications.

Critical Resources emphasises a disciplined approach to evaluation.

“Over the next 12 months, our research and development program will be milestone based and overseen by a dedicated technical committee, ensuring disciplined progress and accountability,”

Managing Director Tim Wither said, noting the intention to assess performance in conditions relevant to electric vehicles, grid storage and data centres.

The company has secured twelve months of exclusivity for evaluation on payment of a US$5,000 fee, with rights to make and use for assessment but no commercial sales during the period.

If the option is exercised, the parties will have up to three months to negotiate a definitive licence on commercially reasonable terms, under an agreement that also incorporates confidentiality, export control, and patent cost reimbursement provisions, while recognising United States Government rights where applicable under the Bayh Dole framework.

Technically, the program aims to validate conductivity at elevated temperatures, examine resistance to lithium metal dendrites, and prototype coin or pouch cells that combine the licensed electrolytes and interfaces, tested under higher rate and thermal duty cycles.

The microwave enabled synthesis route is intended to improve purity and scale readiness, which is a notable factor for any future manufacturing step.

The arrangement complements prior exposure to solid state research through the company’s 2022 investment in Volt Carbon Technologies, signalling continuity in downstream orientation while maintaining the resource base at Mavis Lake in Ontario, alongside Australian and New Zealand assets in gold and antimony.

The disclosed Mavis Lake resource provides a numerical anchor for the upstream position while the option offers a defined process for assessing downstream technology fit.

The option gives Critical Resources time bound exclusivity to assess SDM’s intellectual property without diverting from existing project work programs.

Success would be measured by replicated high temperature performance, evidence of dendrite suppression and viable prototyping, followed by licence negotiations.

Against a backdrop of supply chain scrutiny and energy storage demand, the initiative positions the company to test practical pathways that connect resource development with applied battery materials engineering, with disclosures to follow as milestones are met during the option period.

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