EMP Metals starts re-entry of brackish well to feed Project Aurora demo plant

EMP Metals has deployed a service rig and initiated work to bring an existing brackish water well back into active testing, aiming to verify a nearby low-salinity feedstock for its Project Aurora demonstration facility. The immediate field scope centers on isolating an upper segment of the borehole, creating targeted perforations, and using high-rate swabbing to secure representative samples and establish sustained fluid levels for analysis. Field personnel expect on-site operations to complete in roughly ten days, after which engineering planning will shift toward integrating any viable water source into the demonstration plant. Project Aurora is a collaborative effort with Saltworks Technologies to trial a continuous-flow, wellhead-connected, modular hub-and-spoke extraction and refining concept intended to inform repeatable commercial deployments. Data gathered during the demo will be used by Saltworks to produce full-scale plant designs and capital cost estimates for a modular refinery sized in the order of three thousand tonnes per year. The purpose of the test is twofold: validate accessible low-salinity resources near the plant and derisk later investment by refining process selection and operating parameters. Positive test outcomes would strengthen feedstock certainty, improve logistics and unit economics for modular replication, and shorten timelines to scale. Conversely, poor recovery rates, elevated salinity, or inconsistent flow would force reassessment of resource plans and could raise capital intensity or operational complexity. The technical quality of the work—placement of perforations, effectiveness of well isolation, and the swabbing regime—will directly affect sample integrity and the credibility of any extrapolated production forecasts. Results will therefore carry outsized influence on Saltworks’ engineering scope and the financial model for commercial roll-out. For stakeholders, the trial reduces some upstream uncertainty by producing empirical data rather than relying on distant estimates. The company still faces routine hurdles common to lithium projects, including permitting, financing and environmental compliance, but the stepwise testing approach limits upfront exposure and preserves optionality while delivering practical performance insights. In sum, this operation represents a modest but meaningful technical milestone whose outcomes could materially alter the timing, cost structure and risk profile of Project Aurora depending on the test results.