Engineering for the AI era

Critical Resources Limited (ASX:CRR) is moving downstream to focus on solid-state battery (SSB) & advanced thermal management technologies. In time, this will drive the rerating of CRR as a tech rather than resource company in our view. CRR's recent CSIRO announcement and our Industry Expert deep dive call with a Data Centre Liquid cooling expert reaffirm our conviction on this outlook.

• Investment in SSB: began in 2022 with Volt Carbon Technologies (TSXV:VCT). Since then, CRR has acquired intellectual property, formed leading US research partnerships and built an experienced technical team. The company is now progressing towards battery-cell testing.
• Advanced thermal management: In May 2026, CRR signed an exclusive worldwide commercial licence for IP related to thermal management of lithium-ion batteries and DC cooling infrastructure. Since then, CRR has made rapid progress, appointing a liquid cooling specialist as a technical advisor in July. The proprietary technology extends beyond water cooling by using a patented two-phase spray cooling technology.
• Industry tailwinds: Liquid DC cooling is forecast to grow at ~25% CAGR beyond 2030, outpacing the growth of the total DC cooling market (Fig 1), while the SSB industry is forecast to grow at 31% CAGR (Fig ?).

Looking forward, potential catalysts include government grants, independent testing results for SSB or rack-scale cooling systems, and any milestones towards development of a genuine external partner, licence or commercial sale.

Fig 1: Liquid DC cooling to outpace total DC cooling

Source: Homodeus estimates