"This is a significant investment and goes a long way toward developing this key project," Controlled Thermal CEO Rod Colwell said in an interview. Colwell said a $65 million facility recently installed by Controlled Thermal can remove that silica and other unwanted metals. Controlled Thermal aims to obtain final permits by October and start construction of a commercial lithium plant soon thereafter, Colwell said. Controlled Thermal had separately agreed to supply lithium to General Motors (GM.N) by 2024, but that goal has been pushed to 2025, Colwell said. GM said it has a "close working relationship" with Controlled Thermal but deferred comment on technical questions to its junior partner.

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Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Stellantis, Rod Colwell, Berkshire Hathaway, Colwell, There's, Carlos Tavares, Goldman Sachs, Ernest Scheyder, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Resources, Chrysler, Berkshire, Koch Industries, General Motors, GM, Vulcan Energy Resources, Thomson Locations: Velizy, Villacoublay, Paris, France