Oh you are wrong though, you said "The grant is to study MANs brines"...
Well in fact the announcement states and i quote--"" characterise and estimate reserves of Lithium and other critical minerals in the Paradox Basin" This is in the Paradox Basin, and not just for MANs brines as you state.
"Mandrake, in conjunction with several pre-eminent technical groups, has been awarded US$1M by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to characterise and estimate reserves of Lithium and other critical minerals in the Paradox Basin "