Company’s SuperSynth technology significantly reduces cost and simplifies the manufacturing process for lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) providing a pathway to onshoring LFP cathode production for battery module producers

NewGenium (“NewGenium” or the “Company”), a Caltech rooted technology company, today announced its launch and that it has – for the first time in the industry – developed breakthrough brine-to-battery grade LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) manufacturing technology that allows extraction of lithium directly from brine in a way that radically reduces both the cost and the complexity of LFP production. In doing so, the Company’s proprietary SuperSynth technology offers a significantly more scalable pathway to domestic LFP, the critical cathode material used in lithium-ion batteries. Importantly, the Company’s approach allows the entire process to take place in a consolidated manner, eliminating the need for offshore synthesis of LFP from American-sourced lithium and eliminating reliance on LFP imports. NewGenium’s ion exchange direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology – including the actual production of LFP – was proven in 2025 at the Company’s laboratory in Monrovia, California.

As the USA’s demand for lithium-ion batteries soars, developing domestic lithium production has become a national security and supply stability concern leading to high interest in tapping the nation’s large subsurface lithium reserves that are contained in domestic brine repositories. This interest is driven by multiple factors, including the fact that LFP batteries offer increased safety, longer life and lower cost, and are now the standard for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). In contrast, Li-NMC (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt) batteries have high energy density and charge fast but have shorter cycle lives and are more expensive. As a result, LFP has become the fastest growing cathode active material (CAM) technology. With USA battery demand for rechargeable batteries projected to grow from 400 GWh to 1600 GWh from 2025 to 2035, today’s $15 billion LFP market is projected to grow at 16-18% CAGR during the same period.

The USA has substantial lithium-rich brine reserves. In 2024, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a study¹ quantifying America’s brine reserves of up to 19 million tons of lithium which is nearly a 100-year supply at current American demand. However, processing lithium-rich brine to LFP is currently complex with a substantial environmental and global footprint. Traditional lithium evaporation ponds are used to produce lithium carbonate, the primary precursor of LFP, but is a multi-year endeavor requiring substantial land and water. The resulting lithium carbonate is then transported to the People’s Republic of China and synthesized to LFP only to frequently be re-shipped to battery module producers across the world.

Partly as a result of the substantial environmental impact with lithium brine evaporation, the industry developing environmentally superior approaches of DLE. However, other current DLE refining processes also produce lithium carbonate which again needs to be transported to China to be synthesized into LFP.

NewGenium’s proprietary SuperSynth technology radically improves the approach to DLE and disrupts the market by enabling more immediate LFP production by reducing the number of overall operational steps. Specifically, the SuperSynth process reduces LFP production to just 3 relatively low-temperature operations that utilize readily available equipment and produces significantly less solid waste. These advantages are borne out in the production economics with NewGenium transforming the economics of the industry. The current levelized cost of LFP, including duties and tariffs, is $5-15/kg while NewGenium’s levelized cost is as low as ~$3/kg.

Potential customers of NewGenium’s technology include upstream well operators and downstream cathode and battery manufacturers.

“The USA faces a critical moment in which the exploding demand for lithium batteries is not matched by our capacity to produce the necessary LFP cathode materials,” said Christopher Murphy, CEO, NewGenium. “Given the new mandates for energy and critical mineral independence, the country’s battery industry must take advantage of domestic reserves and produced water using DLE technologies. We’re thrilled to have developed a novel chemical process that will help the USA build national independence in critical minerals by extracting lithium from brine and turning it into LFP in a simplified way. Perhaps most exciting is the fact that onshoring USA domestic production of LFP batteries from brine finally becomes both financially and environmentally attractive.”

“The Lithium Regional Innovation Cluster (LRIC) is focused on strengthening national security by helping build a more resilient, sustainable domestic lithium value chain – one that is essential to the future of American energy,” said Florence Meadors, Program Manager of the Lithium Regional Innovation Cluster. “Our work is rooted in the Smackover Formation, one of the world’s most significant lithium resources and a region with the potential to support U.S. battery demand for decades. Through LRIC, our mission is to support innovation and commercialization across the entire lithium value chain, and we’re especially excited about NewGenium’s technology. We look forward to supporting its efforts as the country works to responsibly unlock and utilize its vast brine-based lithium resources, including those in the Smackover.”

About NewGenium

As society's need for lithium-ion batteries grows at an unprecedented pace, developing sustainable lithium and lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) supply has never been more important. NewGenium is leading the way with SuperSynth, a breakthrough technology that can selectively extract lithium from brine and turn it more directly into LFP – a key cathode used in today’s batteries. NewGenium’s process is simpler, cleaner, and significantly more affordable than traditional methods, cutting costs and reducing environmental impact. By tapping into the USA’s vast brine resources, NewGenium is helping build a secure, sustainable, and scalable domestic battery supply chain for the future.

NewGenium, an Idealab Studio company founded by Professor Mark Davis of Caltech and entrepreneur Bill Gross, is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

For more information about NewGenium, please visit newgenium.com.

¹ https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2024/3052/fs20243052.pdf

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