Business
First Tellurium Announces Discussions with US Department of Defense
The DOD has directed First Tellurium to join the Defense Industrial Base Consortium to move forward. Vancouver, BC, Canada – TheNewswire - July 11, 2024 – First
About this update from First Tellurium Corp
[{"type":"text","content":" The DOD has directed First Tellurium to join the Defense Industrial Base Consortium to move forward. Vancouver, BC, Canada – TheNewswire - July 11, 2024 – First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL, OTC: FSTTF) reports it has had recent discussions with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) regarding various tellurium-related opportunities such as better batteries, solar energy output, combustion/electric vehicles and drones. Recognizing tellurium as a critical metal in need of domestic sources, the DOD has directed First Tellurium to join the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) to move ahead with further discussions. The DIBC helps the Department of Defense access commercial solutions for defense requirements and innovations from industry, academia, and non-traditional contractors. Better batteries are of particular concern to the DOD. As Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen H. Hicks noted in 2023, “A healthy battery supply chain is essential to the military…When it comes to batteries, America needs to lead the world.\" First Tellurium’s strategic partner Fenix Advanced Materials and the University of British Columbia are developing a lithium-tellurium battery that may last up to four times longer than conventional lithium-ion batteries, while generating more power. The battery is solid-state and will not catch fire, offering significant safety advantages. “We had a very encouraging first meeting with the Department of Defense at this year’s Energy Metals Conference in Washington, DC,” said First Tellurium President and CEO Tyrone Docherty. “In subsequent meetings, they also expressed interest in our tellurium projects in Colorado and British Columbia and the thermoelectric device developed by our subsidiary PyroDelta Inc.” Docherty added that, with the growing concern around domestic sources of critical metals, the Department of Defense is considering funding assistance for critical metals exploration projects and junior mining companies as well as for operating mines. “They’re fully aware that grass roots funding for critical metals exploration is currently hard to access through conventional financing channels,” said Docherty. Since first announcing completion of R&D on the PyroDelta thermoelectric device in 2023, numerous groups have approached First Tellurium and PyroDelta to learn more about its advantages. “In additi...