Element3

Element3 is a Fort Worth, Texas-based critical materials company that extracts lithium and other battery minerals from oil and gas wastewater using proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. The U.S. oil and gas industry produces one trillion gallons of produced water annually, and Element3 transforms this industrial byproduct into battery-grade lithium carbonate without new mines, new wells, or new pipelines. The company closed a Series A in September 2025 and operates a 3,000-ton-per-annum lithium carbonate facility in Midland, Texas — the first new domestic lithium mining project to reach market in the U.S. in half a century. Element3 was founded with DOE-funded DLE technology and received a 2026 Federal Laboratory Consortium Excellence in Technology Transfer Award alongside Oak Ridge National Laboratory.