Bill Gates’ Breakthrough, BMW and Canada Back Lithium Refiner

Lithium refiner Mangrove Water Technologies Inc. secured $85 million from the Canada Growth Fund, BMW AG’s i Ventures and Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy LLC.

The “structured financing package” will support the company’s commercial facility in Delta, which neighbors the US border south of Vancouver. It will also help the firm move toward a second, much larger plant, which could contribute to powering half a million electric vehicles per year, Canada’s Finance Department said in a statement Thursday.