Full Circle Lithium's FCL-X™ Extinguishes Lithium Battery Fires at Fort McMurray Oil Industry Demonstration

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Full Circle Lithium's FCL-X™ Extinguishes Lithium Battery Fires at Fort McMurray Oil Industry Demonstration

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  • FCL's specialty fire extinguishing agent - FCL-X™ - successfully extinguished multiple lithium battery fire types quickly and completely, with zero re-ignition — a result unmatched by any other technology available worldwide.
  • Demonstration attended by major oilsands operators and local Fort McMurray fire departments, validating FCL-X™ as the mission-critical answer to one of the industry's most dangerous and costly emerging hazards.
  • Full Circle Lithium is now in active sales discussions with multiple regional operators and fire services, with no competing solution existing globally.

TORONTO, June 8, 2026 /CNW/ - Full Circle Lithium Corp. ("FCL" or the "Company") (TSXV: FCLI; OTCQB: FCLIF, FSE: K0Q's ), a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of lithium-ion battery fire extinguishing products, is pleased to announce today the resounding success of its live lithium battery burn demonstration held late May in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The event, attended by representatives of major oilsands producers, national railway, local fire departments, and health and safety professionals, showcased FCL's FCL-X™ suppression systems — the only technology in the world proven to quickly and completely extinguish lithium battery fires across a wide spectrum of battery types used in heavy industry.

Full Circle Lithium Corp. Logo

The Fort McMurray region sits at the heart of Canada's oilsands industry, home to some of the world's largest and most capital-intensive industrial operations. Lithium-ion batteries have become indispensable to daily site operations — powering everything from autonomous heavy machinery, haul trucks, and mobile equipment to mission-critical backup power systems and remote monitoring infrastructure. With that integration comes extraordinary risk. A single thermal runaway event on a large-format industrial battery can escalate within seconds, releasing toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride (HF), carbon monoxide (CO), and methane 1, threatening lives, destroying equipment, and triggering regulatory shutdowns with multi-million-dollar consequences.

A Demonstration That Left No Doubt
During the live demonstration, FCL ignited lithium-ion batteries representing multiple chemistries and form factors commonly deployed across oilsands operations and backup power configuration battery arrays. In each case, FCL-X™ achieved rapid, full suppression — halting thermal runaway, eliminating re-ignition risk, and neutralizing toxic gas emissions — with a speed and efficiency that left attending operators and fire service professionals visibly impressed.

Unlike conventional suppression approaches — which are largely ineffective against lithium battery fires and can require tens of thousands of litres of water over many hours(2)FCL-X™  works through a proprietary chemical mechanism that directly interrupts the electrochemical chain reaction at the core of thermal runaway. The result: fires that traditional suppression systems cannot control are extinguished decisively by FCL-X™.

"The reaction from operators and fire services was immediate. When they watched FCL-X™ fully shut down live battery fires of different chemistries in real time — no re-ignition, no residual thermal risk — it confirmed what we have always known: FCL-X™ is not an incremental improvement, it is a category of one. There is nothing else like it anywhere in the world", commented Carlos Vicens, Chief Executive Officer, FCL.

The oilsands sector hosts some of the highest concentrations of large-format lithium-battery assets in Canada. Battery-powered equipment fleets are rapidly expanding as operators pursue electrification to meet emissions targets and reduce fuel costs. Meanwhile, stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS) are being deployed across remote and urban-edge facilities to provide power backup and grid support.

The risks posed by these batteries are well-documented and sobering. Research published in the International Journal of Coal Science & Technology confirmed that thermal runaway incidents in underground mining and heavy industrial settings pose a severe risk to personnel and infrastructure, as confined environments amplify heat damage and the accumulation of toxic gases (3). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has specifically studied the explosion risks posed by lithium battery thermal runaway in mining enclosures (4). The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported approximately 25,000 lithium battery-related fire incidents spanning more than 400 device types during 2012–2017 alone (5).

In June 2024, a lithium battery factory fire in Hwaseong, South Korea, resulted in 23 deaths, with workers reportedly rendered unconscious within seconds from toxic gas exposure(6). In January 2025, the Moss Landing BESS facility in California — the world's largest battery storage site — suffered a catastrophic fire, forcing the evacuation of approximately 1,200 residents due to toxic smoke plumes(7). In May 2024, a BESS fire at the Gateway Energy Storage Facility in San Diego burned for five days, with continued flare-ups (8).

Mining-specific incidents are equally alarming. Australian mining regulators have documented lithium battery fires aboard open-cut mine vehicles, underground chargers, and equipment involved in on-site accidents — all resulting in thermal runaways, fires, and associated personnel and capital risks (9). NIOSH research confirmed that explosion-proof enclosures used in mining environments can fail to contain a lithium battery thermal runaway event(4).

No Other Global Solution Exists
Full Circle Lithium's FCL-X™ is the only known solution capable of quickly and fully extinguishing live lithium battery fires across multiple battery types in an industrial setting. While water-based suppression, sand inundation, and containment vessels have been explored or deployed in limited scenarios, none address the underlying electrochemical mechanism of thermal runaway, nor have they demonstrated the complete suppression performance achieved by FCL-X™.

For oilsands companies, local fire departments, and health and safety professionals in the Fort McMurray region and beyond, this is not merely a product advantage — it is a decisive answer to a problem with no other solution.

"Fort McMurray was a pivotal moment — not just for Full Circle Lithium, but for the entire oilsands industry. We are now in active discussions with multiple regional operators and local fire departments, and we fully expect these conversations to translate into meaningful sales and long-term safety partnerships. The oilsands sector deserves a real solution to a real threat — and FCL-X™ is exactly that."
— Carlos Vicens, Chief Executive Officer, Full Circle Lithium

FOOTNOTES & REFERENCES


1  Accidents involving lithium-ion batteries — toxic gas production, including HF, CO, and CH₄. PMC / National Institutes of Health. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11995524/

2  CTIF International Association of Fire Services. "Up to 150,000 litres of water needed to extinguish an electric vehicle battery fire." https://ctif.org

3  "A perspective on the safety of large-format lithium-ion batteries in underground mining operations: Thermal runaway and its mitigation." International Journal of Coal Science & Technology, Springer Nature, 2025. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40789-025-00799-w

4  Dubaniewicz, T.H. et al. "Explosion-Proof Enclosure Failure to Contain a Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Runaway." National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Research Laboratory. ResearchGate, 2024.

5  OSHA / Lee (2018) cited in: "A perspective on the safety of large-format lithium-ion battery in underground mining operations." International Journal of Coal Science & Technology, 2025. (Approx. 25,000 LIB-related fire incidents across 400+ device types, 2012–2017.)

6  Hwaseong Battery Factory Fire, Aricell, South Korea — 23 fatalities, June 24, 2024. Wikipedia / CTIF. https://ctif.org/news/unconscious-after-two-breaths-lithium-battery-explosions-south-korea-killed-22-through-smoke

7  Moss Landing BESS Fire, Vistra Energy, Monterey County, California — January 16, 2025; ~1,200 residents evacuated due to toxic smoke. U.S. EPA / GPRS. https://www.epa.gov/electronics-batteries-management/battery-energy-storage-systems-main-considerations-safe

8  Gateway Energy Storage Facility Fire, Otay Mesa, San Diego County — May 15, 2024; fire burned for five days with continued flare-ups. U.S. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/electronics-batteries-management/battery-energy-storage-systems-main-considerations-safe

9  NSW Resources Regulator, Safety Bulletin SB22-17: "Fires on Battery Powered Tools — Increase"; and SB23-01: "Explosion Risk of Battery Units for Underground Battery Electric Vehicles." NSW Government, Australia, 2022–2023. https://www.resources.nsw.gov.au

About Full Circle Lithium Corp.

FCL is a U.S.-based manufacturer of sustainable solutions for the lithium battery safety sector. Its flagship product innovation, FCL-X™, is a proprietary, non-hazardous, water-based fire-extinguishing agent designed specifically to combat the growing threat of lithium-ion battery fires. Backed by a world-class technical team, FCL is committed to delivering safe, effective, and environmentally responsible fire mitigation technologies.

For more information:
Carlos Vicens – CEO & Director
Email: ir@fcl-x.com
Phone: +1.416.977.3832

Cautionary Statement 

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in Canada, and which are based on the expectations, estimates, and projections of management of the parties as of the date of this news release, unless otherwise stated. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "could", "believe", "plans", "intends" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. More particularly, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information concerning expectations on the effectiveness of the marketing and sales of  FCL-X™ through distribution agreements, the viability, effectiveness, safety and additional commercialization related to FCL-X™ which is at an early stage of commercialization (which is very difficult for a start-up venture like FCL as there are much larger and better capitalized established companies that can potentially quickly enter the lithium-ion battery fire-fighting market and create strong competition against FCL), on receiving patent protection for FCL-X™ and related inventions and processes, the ability of FCL, a start-up venture, to successfully commercialize its FCL-X™ including ramping-up production of the agent to meet potential demand, continue raising capital, upgrading and refurbishing its plant, and sourcing feedstock for this and its other lines of business. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the uncertainties and risk factors related to the loss of key technical and other staff, the battery fire-extinguishing agent functioning as expected to meet safety requirements and fire-fighting related government regulations and potential client product specifications, and applicable environmental requirements and issues – see additional risks described in FCL's public filings. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. FCL disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law. Additionally, FCL undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of FCL, its financial or operating results or its securities.

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SOURCE Full Circle Lithium Inc