Humans evolved to walk with an extra spring in our step

Scientists find the flexible human foot arch may have helped us to run and walk upright

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

A new study has shown that humans may have evolved a spring-like arch to help us walk on two feet. Researchers studying the evolution of bipedal walking have long assumed that the raised arch of the foot helps us walk by acting as a lever which propels the body forward. But a global team of scientists have now found that the recoil of the flexible arch repositions the ankle upright for more effective walking. The effects in running are greater, which suggests that the ability to run efficiently could have been a selective pressure for a flexible arch that made walking more efficient too. This discovery could even help doctors improve treatments for present-day patients’ foot problems.

“We thought originally that the spring-like arch helped to lift the body into the next step,” said Dr Lauren Welte, first author of the study in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, who conducted the research while at Queen's University and is now affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It turns out that instead, the spring-like arch recoils to help the ankle lift the body.”

Step by step

The evolution of our feet, including the raised medial arch which sets us apart from great apes, is crucial to bipedal walking. The arch is thought to give hominins more leverage when walking upright: the mechanism is unclear, but when arch motion is restricted, running demands more energy. Arch recoil could potentially make us more efficient runners by propelling the center mass of the body forward, or by making up for mechanical work that muscles would otherwise have to do.

To investigate these hypotheses, the team selected seven participants with varying arch mobility, who walked and ran while their feet were being filmed by high-speed x-ray motion capture cameras. The height of each participant’s arch was measured, and their right feet were CT-scanned. The scientists created rigid models and compared them to the measured motion of the foot bones to test the effect of arch mobility on adjacent joints. They also measured which joints contributed the most to arch recoil, and the contribution of arch recoil to center of mass and ankle propulsion.

Leaning into bipedalism

Although the scientists expected to find that arch recoil helped the rigid lever of the arch to lift the body up, they discovered that a rigid arch without recoil either caused the foot to leave the ground early, likely decreasing the efficiency of the calf muscles, or leaned the ankle bones too far forward. The forward lean mirrors the posture of walking chimpanzees, rather than the upright stance characteristic of human gait. The flexible arch helped reposition the ankle upright, which allows the leg to push off the ground more effectively. This effect is even greater when running, suggesting that efficient running may have been an evolutionary pressure in favor of the flexible arch.

The scientists also found that the joint between two bones in the medial arch, the navicular and the medial cuneiform, is crucial to the arch’s flexibility. Changes to this joint could help us track the development of bipedalism in the hominin fossil record.

“The mobility of our feet seems to allow us to walk and run upright instead of either crouching forward or pushing off into the next step too soon,” said Dr Michael Rainbow of Queen’s University, senior author.

Therapeutic potential

These findings also suggest therapeutic avenues for people whose arches are rigid due to injury or illness: supporting the flexibility of the arch could improve overall mobility.

“Our work suggests that allowing the arch to move during propulsion makes movement more efficient,” said Welte. “If we restrict arch motion, it’s likely that there are corresponding changes in how the other joints function.”

“At this stage, our hypothesis requires further testing because we need to verify that differences in foot mobility across the population lead to the kinds of changes we see in our limited sample,” said Rainbow. “That said, our work sets the stage for an exciting new avenue of investigation.”

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

DOI

10.3389/fbioe.2023.1155439 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Mobility of the human foot's medial arch enables upright bipedal locomotion

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-May-2023

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Strange_Affair_...

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack is a steampunk novel by British writer Mark Hodder, the first novel in the Burton & Swinburne series; it won the ...

‎Plot summary · ‎Characters · ‎Technologies

• 
  

  Spring-heeled Jack

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  Spring-heeled Jack is an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837.

  Region: London; ‎Liverpool‎

  Country: United Kingdom

Spring Heeled Jack and Clockwork Man -- Outstanding Steam ...

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Spring Heeled Jack and Clockwork Man -- Outstanding Steam Stories. All week long I've been sharing with you some of my favorite steampunk stories and some ...

 Philosophy aligns with economics on how to value future generations in climate policy

A survey of philosophers finds they broadly agree with economists on the best way of valuing the environment of the future in policy decisions made now – although for different reasons.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

A survey of philosophers finds they broadly agree with economists on the best way of valuing the environment of the future in policy decisions made now – although for different reasons.

In a new study published in Nature Climate Change, environmental economists including the University of Exeter’s Professor Ben Groom found consensus between the two academic disciplines over an aspect of climate policy known as the ‘social discount rate’, with philosophers offering support for a rate of 2% - a value predominantly backed by economists, and which is in line with UN climate targets.

Social discount rates are used by governments to determine how costs and benefits that occur in the future – such as the impacts of climate mitigation projects, policies and programmes – are valued in the present.

A low discount rate places greater value on the benefits to future generations, such as those created by avoiding burning fossil fuels, and increases the costs of carbon emissions used in public investment appraisal.

The researchers analysed survey data from over 200 economists and philosophers with expertise in social discounting, who provided a range of qualitative and quantitative answers.

They found considerable agreement between the two disciplines for a long-term social discount rate of 2% and on analysing the survey data they found in each discipline the median discounting value resulted in temperature changes of around 1.4◦C by the end of the century, a figure in line with the UN Paris climate targets.

Small changes to the SDR have significant policy implications: the Trump administration’s increase of the SDR from 3% to 7% reducing the social cost of carbon by a factor of seven, whereas New York State’s decision to reduce its SDR to 2% rather than 3% made the social cost of carbon increase from $40 to $125 per tonne of CO2.

The study is the first to attempt to build expert consensus on social discount rates outside the field of economics.

Expert advice – predominantly from economists – plays a key role in discounting and its application to climate policy, but the underlying ethical issues at stake fall outside most economists’ expertise.

The findings therefore strengthen economists’ arguments for a social discount rate of 2% by underpinning it with ethical concerns for the welfare of future generations and ‘intergenerational equity’.

Professor Ben Groom, Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics at the University of Exeter said: “That economists and philosophers can agree on policy outcomes builds academic expert consensus, and the paper will help build consensus in favour of the new guidance as it works its way through the US government.

“The different perspectives of philosophers are complementary to those of economists and offer ethical checks and balances within integrated assessment models to narrow the set of acceptable climate policies, or offer altogether different procedural lenses through which to evaluate climate policy. These insights will be overlooked if economists continue to dominate the social discounting debate.”

'Philosophers and economists agree on climate policy paths but for different reasons' by Professors Frikk Nesje, Moritz A. Drupp, Mark C. Freeman and Ben Groom, is published in Nature Climate Change.

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JOURNAL

Nature Climate Change

DOI

10.1038/s41558-023-01681-w 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Philosophers and economists agree on climate policy paths but for different reasons

Educational program helps medical students better understand the relationship between health and society

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

Tsukuba, Japan—The intricate relationship between human health and various social and economic factors has gained significant attention in medical education. These social factors, known as social determinants of health (SDH), play a crucial role in shaping health outcomes. However, there is a limited number of studies that continuously evaluate the effectiveness of educational initiatives in enhancing medical students' understanding of SDH.

In 2018, the University of Tsukuba School of Medicine introduced an SDH education program for medical students during their clinical clerkship in community medicine. This program is mandatory for 5th and 6th year students and spans four weeks of clinical clerkship training at both the university hospital and suburban hospitals and clinics. At the beginning of the clerkship, students attend a lecture on SDH. Throughout the four-week training, they are tasked with identifying a case related to SDH, which they present on the final day of training. Additionally, they are required to submit a report upon completion of the training. The program has undergone periodic revisions to enhance its content, and faculty development initiatives have been implemented to deepen the understanding of SDH education.

This study evaluates the level of understanding of SDH among students by analyzing three years of student reports, from 2018 onwards. The results indicated a progressive increase in the percentage of students with a deeper comprehension of SDH since the inception of the program. Furthermore, students displayed the ability to focus on different aspects of SDH in their reports.

The future is expected to witness increased attention toward SDH education programs for medical students. To further enhance these programs, it is crucial to foster greater integration between medical and social science education.

###
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K10527.
 

Original Paper

Title of original paper:

Three-year evaluation of a program teaching social determinants of health in community-based medical education: a general inductive approach for qualitative data analysis

Journal:
BMC Medical Education

DOI:
10.1186/s12909-023-04320-2

Correspondence

Assistant Professor OZONE Sachiko
Visiting Associate Professor HARUTA, Junji (Professor of the School of Medicine, Medical Education Center, Keio University)
Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Institute of Medicine

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JOURNAL

BMC Medical Education

DOI

10.1186/s12909-023-04320-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Three-year evaluation of a program teaching social determinants of health in community-based medical education: a general inductive approach for qualitative data analysis

Novel solar desalination system for remote areas

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (IISC)

 

IMAGE: SCHEMATIC OF A MULTISTAGE SOLAR THERMAL DESALINATION SYSTEM view more 

CREDIT: NABAJIT DEKA

With summer temperatures soaring, the spectre of water scarcity looms large. As a possible solution to increase the availability of clean, potable water, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a novel thermal desalination system which can work using solar energy. 

The most common methods for desalination are membrane-based reverse osmosis and thermal desalination. However, both consume a lot of energy.  

Thermal desalination systems work by heating saltwater and then condensing the resulting vapour to obtain freshwater. But the energy required for evaporation is usually obtained from either electricity or combustion of fossil fuels. An environmentally friendly alternative is using solar stills in which solar energy is employed to evaporate saltwater in large reservoirs and the vapour that condenses on a transparent roof is collected. However, during condensation, a thin layer of water forms on the roof, reducing the amount of solar energy that can penetrate the reservoir and therefore the system’s efficiency. 

As an alternative to such solar stills, the IISc team has developed a novel design for a solar-powered desalination unit that is more energy-efficient, cost-effective and portable, making it convenient to set up in areas with limited access to continuous electricity, explains Susmita Dash, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and corresponding author of the study published in Desalination.  

The setup, designed by Dash and her PhD student Nabajit Deka, comprises a reservoir of saline water, an evaporator, and a condenser enclosed within an insulating chamber to avoid heat losses to the ambient air.  

Their system works by using solar thermal energy to evaporate a small volume of water imbibed or “wicked” into the evaporator, which has a textured surface. The wicking of liquid into the evaporator takes advantage of the capillary effect of microscale textures. This effect allows liquids to be drawn into narrow spaces of a porous material, much like water being absorbed by a sponge. Utilising this approach, instead of heating the entire liquid volume in the reservoir, results in a significant improvement in the system’s energy efficiency, says Dash.  

The team etched tiny grooves on the surface of the evaporator, which is made of aluminium. Deka explains that they had to experiment with different combinations of groove dimension and spacing as well as surface roughness to determine the right pattern for efficient wicking. 

The condenser – often overlooked in a majority of desalination studies, according to the researchers – is another key element of the solar desalination system. To prevent the formation of the water film during condensation, like in the solar stills, Dash and Deka fabricated a condenser with alternating hydrophilic and superhydrophilic surfaces. The water droplets condensing on the hydrophilic patterns are pulled towards the superhydrophilic region. This affinity of the condensed water to the superhydrophilic region enables the hydrophilic surface to become free for a fresh batch of condensate, explains Dash. 

During condensation, some heat gets lost to the atmosphere. The researchers designed the system in such a way that this heat released during condensation is also trapped and utilised to heat up the imbibed saltwater in a different evaporator at the backside of the condenser, which reduces the amount of solar energy needed, and increases the efficiency of the system even more. The team also successfully connected multiple evaporator-condenser combinations in a series, resulting in a multi-stage solar desalination system. This system, if built in a footprint area of 1 m2, has the capacity to produce one litre of potable water every 30 minutes – at least twice as much as that produced by a traditional solar still of the same size. 

Apart from seawater, the system can also work with groundwater containing dissolved salts as well as brackish water. It can be adjusted to align with the shifting positions of the sun during the day.  

The researchers are currently working on scaling up the system and improving its durability, and increasing the volume of drinking water produced, so that it can be deployed for domestic and commercial use.  

Experimental setup

JOURNAL

Desalination

DOI

10.1016/j.desal.2023.116576 

ARTICLE TITLE

Multistage interfacial thermal desalination system with metallic evaporators

ESG 'WOKE' CAPITALI$M

Berkeley Haas launches Sustainable Business Research Prize

New prize to recognize the most significant research with the greatest potential to catalyze immediate change in business management practices in the face of global environmental crises

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Berkeley, Calif. – The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, today announced the launch of the Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize. The prize encourages serious research with timely, real-world business-practice applications among business school faculty around the world related to responsible business, sustainability, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues. 

This new prize seeks to recognize the most significant research papers that hold the greatest potential to catalyze immediate change in business management practices in the face of urgent global environmental crises. Additionally, the prize will motivate thought leadership globally and add to the body of knowledge and intellectual capital in the role of business in society. 

Recognizing that the global market is not acting fast enough to address the climate change crisis, the 2023 prize will seek papers that explore economic levers that motivate individuals, corporations, and markets to act with urgency on climate and resource-saving initiatives. 

This Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize is supported by Allan Spivack, MBA 80 and former President & CEO of RGI Home. Spivack has long been at the vanguard of sustainable business and serves on the Senior Advisory Board of the Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business. 

“The University of California, Berkeley has a tradition of cutting-edge innovation across many academic and research disciplines,” Spivack said. “My intention in creating the Sustainable Business Research Prize is to provide a platform in which the urgent conversations around climate change and industry can meet the moment.”

A committee of well-regarded sustainability researchers and practitioners at the Haas School of Business will choose one academic study to win the $20,000 prize. The committee will be chaired by Berkeley Haas Dean Ann E. Harrison and made up of faculty members Reed Walker, Transamerica Chair in Business Strategy; Assistant Professor Sytske Wijnsma,; Assistant Professor Jonathan Weigel; and Associate Professor Panos Patatoukas, the L.H. Penney Chair in Accounting and Distinguished Teaching Fellow.

The prize is part of Dean Harrison’s three strategic priorities for the Haas School: sustainability, entrepreneurship, and diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging (DEIJB). As the top public business school, Berkeley Haas is committed to addressing sustainability challenges by preparing our students to lead the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy through designing and implementing new business models, policies, and solutions.

“At the Haas School of Business, we believe that the transition to a sustainable world is being led by business. It is business that is mobilizing the vast amount of capital and innovation needed to create successful environmental solutions at scale,” Harrison said. “The Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize seeks to address this challenge in translating cutting-edge academic research into action in the face of the climate crisis.”

The prize is administered by the Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business (CRB). The CRB connects students, businesses, and faculty to mobilize the positive potential of business to create a more responsible, resilient, and sustainable society. Building on more than two decades of research, teaching, and engaging with business, the center encourages sustainability-minded research and its application in the marketplace of commerce and ideas.

Learn more about the prize and the forthcoming 2023 call for papers here. 

Appian signs Brazil clean energy partnership and equity investment to accelerate portfolio decarbonization strategy
USA - English




NEWS PROVIDED BYAppian Capital Advisory LLP

01 Jun, 2023

HighlightsPartnership with Detronic is key milestone as Appian looks to deploy clean energy solutions at its operations to off-set and reduce CO2 emissions on a portfolio basis
Development of 62.4MWp of solar power plants will provide attractive risk-adjusted returns given Minas Gerais, Brazil, a key mining region, is one of the most attractive regions for solar projects globally

Accelerates the internalizing of renewable energy skillsets to deploy across Appian's mining portfolio as part of our clean energy solutions and mining adjacent strategy
Utilizing Detronic's expertise to add inside-the-fence clean energy projects to Appian's mining operations will lead to carbon emission reductions and reduce energy costs and margin volatility

LONDON, June 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Appian Capital Advisory LLP ("Appian" or the "Company"), the investment advisor to long-term value-focused private equity funds that invest solely in mining and mining-related companies, and Detronic Energia ("Detronic"), an experienced renewable energy solutions provider in Brazil, are pleased to announce a clean energy partnership in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Appian has entered into a joint venture partnership with Detronic to develop a portfolio of 20 ready-to-build solar parks. The partnership will develop parks with a total capacity of 62.4MWp in Minas Gerais. As a leading mining state in Brazil, Minas Gerais is one of the most attractive regions for photovoltaic projects in the country and the world, due to its excellent solar irradiation and fiscal incentives. In addition to its planned projects in the state, Appian and Detronic are currently evaluating opportunities for additional solar farms at its individual mine sites across Brazil given the high suitability of the Detronic design.

The Detronic Appian partnership is a core element of Appian's clean energy and mining adjacent strategy to support the business' ambitions to decarbonise its operations and simultaneously improve margins.

The energy pricing environment, low project risk execution and the fiscal benefits for solar generation in Minas Gerais are key benefits of the Detronic partnership, which is set to deliver attractive risk adjusted returns for Appian's investors. Minas Gerais is the largest distributed generation market in Brazil with 2.5GWp already installed. Furthermore, the development of the renewable energy portfolio in Brazil will serve as a hedge and reduce Appian's exposure to future energy price rises at its operations in the country.

Alongside its environmental and economic benefits, this partnership will enable Appian to further develop its inhouse clean energy and sustainability expertise, particularly around incorporating renewable projects into Appian mine sites going forward.

Detronic's business model is fully integrated covering everything from project development to final energy distribution and operations. With this 360° structure Detronic is able to support across the value chain for the development of clean energy portfolio.

The development of the 20 solar sites in Minas Gerais, which will be led by Detronic's dedicated construction arm, is set to begin in Q2 2023. Detronic has an established track-record of developing solar generation on time and on budget, using a standardized design and repeatable execution methodology which is also suitable for Appian's mines sites. It has 34 solar farms recently built and grid connected as well as a further 47 under construction. Detronic's current operations are off-setting 6,263 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Michael W. Scherb, Founder and CEO of Appian, commented: "This is a significant milestone for Appian's sustainability ambitions. As a leading investor in mining, we see ESG as core to the delivery of our strategy and the success of our investments. By partnering with an industry expert in Detronic, we have demonstrated that providing clean energy to our portfolio in Brazil is a priority, alongside delivering attractive, risk-adjusted returns to our investors in the process. I look forward to working with our team to deliver on the opportunity that this partnership presents for our business."

Andre Barreto, Founder and CEO of Detronic, added: "Working with Appian is the result of significant planning and preparation. We live in a connected and electrical world, and renewable energy sources are the protagonists of a sustainable future. This is a partnership built on purpose, and we are eager to combine the efforts of two incredible teams to achieve common goals and results. Appian's strategic vision and global presence will be key foundations for the development of new projects across the planet."

About Appian

Appian Capital Advisory LLP is the investment advisor to long-term value focused private capital funds that invest solely in mining and mining related companies.

Appian is a leading investment advisor in the metals and mining industry, with global experience across South America, North America, Australia and Africa and a successful track record of supporting companies to achieve their development targets, with a global operating portfolio overseeing 6,300 employees.

Appian has a global team of 65 experienced professionals with offices in London, Toronto, New York, Lima, Belo Horizonte, Montreal, Perth, Mexico City and Dubai.

For more information please visit www.appiancapitaladvisory.com, or find us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.

About Detronic Energia

Detronic Energia is the most complete hub of renewable energy solutions in Brazil. Leveraging its vertically integrated structure, Detronic Energia provides innovative arrangements for partners and energy consumers of different sizes and profiles. The company has an ecosystem to connect all market players and deliver tailored customer solutions. Detronic Energia holds more than 100 MWp of installed or under construction facilities capacity, around 140 MWp ready-to-build projects and has more than 4,200 active customers in the local energy market.

Detronic has a strong ESG drive and is part of the United Nations Global Compact. Detronic Energia believes in a new way of doing business to transform people's lives.

Learn more about Detronic Energia on our website, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1720474/Appian_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Appian Capital Advisory LLP

JV Article: Siemens operations in Ontario supply process instrumentation tech to global market

MINING.COM and Siemens | June 1, 2023 |

Pressure instrumentation at Peterborough plant in Ontario. Image from Siemens Canada

Siemens Canada, part of a globally connected network, is now able to supply all its process instrumentation technologies to the global market from its factory located in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

“The 17,000 square meter (183,000 sq. ft) manufacturing plant has a breadth of product, and this variety positions it as a leader managing the needs of the industries that it supports,” says Peterborough plant manager, Ian Almond.

Siemens is the only process instrumentation manufacturer on the market today that also offers a complement of static and dynamic weighing technologies. These include weighfeeders, dry solids impact flow-meters, and beltscales. Many customers would recognize these technologies under the legacy Milltronics branding – a name still well known today.

The Peterborough plant has historically been the “center of excellence” within Siemens for level, weighing, and process protection technologies. Replicating world class production processes from its other global factories, the plant has been able to establish lean manufacturing for its other portfolios including flow, pressure, temperature, and valve positioner assembly.

The last few years have presented new challenges. Like other organizations, Siemens was also impacted by supply chain challenges that caused lead-time stability issues. However, with its powerful global procurement, strategic inventory increases, and increased local supply, the company has been able to mitigate many of those risks.

“For some products, the Peterborough facility can receive an order in the morning and have supply on a truck by the afternoon,” notes Almond.

Inventory at Peterborough plant in Ontario. Image from Siemens Canada

Sustainable supply chains

Siemens embraces the importance of being environmentally responsible and has set aggressive targets to become carbon neutral.

“Siemens is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030 in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions – that's our internal operations. This will positively impact other organizations’ Scope 3,” says Amy Geisberger, Sustainability Manager for Siemens Canada. “We also have goals to be carbon neutral by 2050 in our Scope 3 – selling products and services that are lower carbon for the mining industry.”

Siemens recognizes the significant challenges faced by the mining industry as companies pursue their carbon footprint reduction targets, and it sees the Peterborough factory as a key piece of that solution.

“We can help the mining value chain be more environmentally sustainable,” Geisberger says. “We can help them be more efficient in their operations and save resources with the products and the services that we offer.”

Siemens is committed to supporting the mining industry in its transition to carbon neutrality; especially as the world becomes more reliant on critical minerals and moves towards a low carbon economy and electrified operations and fleet.

The Peterborough factory's continuous improvements and investment in production, supply chain, and reduction of carbon emissions will bring value to its customers as well. Siemens recognizes that continuing to invest in and adopt more sustainable practices will enable it, not only to remain competitive, but to be a leader in this space.

The preceding Joint Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT 

sponsored by Siemens and produced in cooperation with Mining.com. 

Visit www.siemens.com for more information.

European Lithium inks key agreement with Obeikan for lithium hydroxide plant in Saudi Arabia



European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR, OTCQB:EULIF) has signed a binding term sheet with Saudi-based Obeikan Group to jointly develop and operate a lithium hydroxide processing plant in Saudi Arabia through an incorporated 50:50 joint venture.

The processing plant capital investment will be fully funded through the JV, with EUR’s equity contribution expected to be in-kind, subject to a valuation.

Under the agreement, EUR will grant the JV company exclusive purchasing rights to spodumene mined from its Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria.

This new agreement marks a significant milestone for the company, as the JV aims to convert lithium concentrate into lithium hydroxide, meeting the specifications of a long-term supply agreement with BMW.

In other developments, EUR expects final SEC approvals for the NASDAQ listing of Critical Metals Corp. by the end of this month.

Plant to strengthen Wolfsberg economics

EUR chairman Tony Sage said the new facility, once operational, is expected to significantly reduce energy costs and deliver savings in opex (operational expenditure), in addition to lower capex (capital expenditure), for operations at the company’s Wolfsberg Lithium Project.

“We are pleased to reach this strategic step in partnering with Obeikan that paves the way for significant Opex savings including greatly reduced energy and financing costs, and a much lower taxation rate,” Sage said.

“We look forward to progressing our plans to harness the latest technology in developing a facility of the highest quality and efficiency, in doing so, strengthen the economics of Wolfsberg and our future projects.”

JV highlights

The 50:50 JV will be geared towards a staged approach to developing, constructing and commissioning a lithium hydroxide processing plant, and operating the plant for the conversion of lithium spodumene concentrate from Wolfsberg.

The proposed JV will seek to have an exclusive right to purchase spodumene mined from the current resource at Wolfsberg (Zone 1), and the facility is expected to be developed to meet the minimum initial capacity and product specifications based on the company’s binding long term supply agreement with BMW.

Subject to the successful commissioning of the plant, EUR will sell the lithium spodumene concentrate to the JV company at a reduced rate with a floor price of US$3,000 per ton and a ceiling price of US$7,000 per ton over the life of the current resource of the Wolfsberg mine.

Should the business combination agreement with Sizzle Acquisition Corp complete, European Lithium has agreed to procure the assignment of its rights and obligations under the JV Term Sheet to Critical Metals Corp (CRML) or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, subject to approval by the CRML board.