The world’s next energy race isn’t being fought over oil or gas—it’s being built from the black powder inside a lithium-ion cell. And in that race, Nano One Materials Corp. (TSX: NANO | OTCQB: NNOMF) has quietly positioned itself as one of the few Western companies with the technology, partnerships, and timing to compete.“We’re really excited about our progress with Rio Tinto,” says Alex Holmes, Chief Operating Officer of Nano One, speaking with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes. “Rio Tinto invested in Nano One in the middle of 2022 at about $2.70 a share. They invested in us because they saw the need for technology to change the way LFP cathode active material is made.”The partnership now serves as a model for how the West might rebuild its battery supply chains from the ground up. Rio Tinto—already one of the world’s largest lithium producers—plans to make over 200,000 tons of lithium carbonate by 2028, following its $5 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium. “By structuring this relationship with Rio Tinto and pre-qualifying their materials,” Holmes says, “we’re helping our licensing partners cut about 12 months out of that process that would typically be required to pre-qualify materials.”Nano One’s approach fuses upstream mining with downstream technology in what Hughes called “a western supply chain blueprint for LFP batteries.” Holmes agrees. “It’s not going to be one company or one group trying to do it on its own. It has to be collaborative,” he says. “Us bringing this upstream with the refining end—and us in the midstream—creates a very strategic value proposition for the companies that are downstream of us.”That vision is already drawing heavyweight validation. Earlier this week, Nano One announced an expanded collaboration with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining on LFP commercialization. “Sumitomo recognized the need for technology differentiation to help the Japanese ecosystem grow—and that copying China was simply not an option,” Holmes explains. After two years of joint testing and trials, Sumitomo has now identified Nano One as “a key technology partner for how they’re going to grow their LFP business and their nickel-rich business.” --