Prairie Lithium:
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS (LITHIUM) WELL Lithium materials in various stages of extraction. Photo supplied by Government of Saskatchewan.
Lithium is having a moment in Saskatchewan, and it doesn’t seem to be disappearing any time soon. Prairie Lithium has drilled the first-ever targeted lithium well in Saskatchewan, according to Zach Maurer, president and CEO. The idea for the company was established in early 2017 when he was interested in what resources were needed in the future, where they came from, and how they are mined. “One of the resources that kept topping the list was lithium associated with batteries and electric vehicles (EVs),” Maurer says. “At the time in 2017, batteries and EVs were still more ‘if’ than ‘when’; they weren’t as mainstream as they are today.” Lithium piqued Maurer’s interest as a lot of it was coming from saltwater brines, something that Saskatchewan has plenty of as a by-product of oil and gas. Maurer asked himself if anyone had
22 SASKATCHEWAN energy REPORT 2022
