March 18 (Reuters) - Summit Nanotech said on Tuesday it

had secured $25.5 million in funding from a consortium of

investment funds, bolstering its work on direct lithium

extraction (DLE) technologies.

Lithium, the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries,

has been produced using water-intensive evaporation ponds or

open-pit mines. However, DLE technologies intend to change that.

DLE is described as a faster, more efficient and

eco-friendlier process of extracting lithium, contrasting with

traditional methods known to cause habitat disruption.

Privately-held Summit Nanotech is developing DLE projects in

South America and has BHP as an investor.

The funding round was led by Canadian clean technology

investment fund Evok Innovations, BDC Capital's Climate Tech

Fund, Xora Innovation and Capricorn Investment Group, with

participation from Mitsui Kinzoku - SBI Material Innovation Fund

and LG Technology Ventures.

"The demand for electric vehicles will soon outpace growth

in lithium supply. Summit's technology addresses this challenge

by optimizing lithium extraction from brine to produce

high-quality lithium at a lower cost," said Cheri Corbett,

partner at BDC Capital's Climate Tech Fund.