Italian energy giant Eni has made a $225 million investment for a minority stake in Chile’s Project Black Giant — one of the world’s largest lithium projects, extraction and refining tech company Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) has announced.
EnergyX said on July 6 the project, with planned capacity to produce up to 52,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually across the first two phases, is set to make it one of the largest lithium producers globally, as well as a world-leading direct lithium extraction technology manufacturing company.
Eni will receive rights up to around 25% of future lithium production from the project. EnergyX has also secured further strategic offtake agreements supporting future production from the project.
Total expenditure for the project is estimated at almost $1 billion, including financing costs, and the project is set to generate about $1.3 billion in annual gross revenue once the first two phases are fully operational.
Eni’s new investment builds on their corporate venture capital arm Eni Next’s participation in EnergyX’s $50 million series B financing from December 2022. The Italian multinational joins other strategic partners backing EnergyX including General Motors and South Korea-based POSCO.
The Chile investment boost came after EnergyX was selected to develop and operate a lithium processing facility on a US army base, in a first for a military installation in the country.
EnergyX confirmed on June 25 it had been given a conditional long-term lease to process domestic lithium into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate and lithium metal and nuclear-grade lithium isotopes at the Red River Army Depot in Texas.
Development is slated to begin as early as 2027 with initial operating capability targeted by or ahead of 2028, although EnergyX did not disclose details about production capacity.
The company said all the materials will energise next-generation military power systems and the broader clean energy transition — in line with the Trump administration’s push for greater energy security and the domestic mining and processing of critical minerals.
EnergyX was one of four companies selected through the army’s strategic capital initiatives and the only partner awarded for lithium.
The company, founded in 2018 by CEO Teague Egan, is an innovator in sustainable direct lithium extraction and refining technologies.
Egan said: “Processing lithium on American soil, at a US army installation no less, is exactly the kind of bold step this country needs to secure its energy and defence supply chains.”
The award builds upon EnergyX’s presence in the US Smackover formation — a geological area that extends across parts of Texas and several other states known for its high lithium concentrations in brine, making it a significant resource for battery production, particularly for EVs.
EnergyX controls around 50,000 acres in the Smackover formation and is building a commercial lithium hydroxide plant.
Batteries International reported in July 2025 that oil giant Chevron was making a foray into the lithium business with the acquisition of land in the Smackover formation.
