Changes in the market size of lithium batteries

According to OilPrice, the electric car revolution is driving the growth of lithium-ion batteries. The market for lithium-ion batteries could reach $67 billion by 2022 -- and it will thrive as long as the energy supply continues.

Fortunately, International Battery Metals (IBAT) is committed to leading economic changes in lithium extraction.

It takes up to 24 months to extract lithium from a metal-rich Salt Lake lithium mine using traditional exposure evaporation technology, and JohnBurba, IBAT's CEO, said it takes only 24 hours to complete the extraction.

Not only that, but traditional extraction technology can only obtain 40 inches of lithium, and IBAT's new technology can make lithium extraction rate up to more than 90

In 2014, when the first company of Bomba, SimbolMaterials, was almost acquired, investors almost completely missed the genius of Burba. Later in 2018, when Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada's Model3 production capacity reached 500,000 units, Tesla Motors would exhaust all of the world's battery-grade lithium supplies. Elon Musk has invested $325 million in Bomba's early startup, the lithium extraction company SimbolMaterials, to increase the supply of the latter. “This is a convincing opportunity to combine two start-ups to drive the development of global clean and sustainable energy technologies,” said Musk.

A New York global investment bank now values the company at $2.5 billion, up sevenfold from its previous valuation of $325 million, to $2.5 billion. Fortunately for the company's investors, the deal was not completed, which is why there is interest in International BatteryMetals.

The explosive development of lithium industry

People are witnessing a dramatic increase in demand for lithium in the global market. Lithium prices have nearly tripled since 2015, and in the Chinese spot market, lithium prices have risen from $6,500 per ton to $20,000. The skyrocketing price of lithium is only the beginning. In the next few years, the demand for lithium will increase significantly, which is a huge opportunity for investors. In the next two years, the global battery market will reach $120 billion.

Production of electric vehicles is expected to grow 30-fold by 2030, with annual sales increasing to 24.4 million from less than 1 million vehicles currently available.

Tesla Model S's 70kWh battery pack contains 63Kg of lithium, equivalent to 10,000 mobile lithium cells. Tesla's production capacity is at a critical juncture, and unfortunately the process of obtaining lithium from the Salt Lake lithium mine is painful and slow.

Traditional exposure evaporation technology is quite time-consuming and has a production cycle of more than 18 months. A lithium mine takes at least four years from mining to production, and an additional three to four years are required to reach saturation.

The total investment in the new lithium mine will be between $350 billion and $750 billion, according to researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, but even such a large investment can not guarantee sufficient lithium production.

Changes in Lithium Extraction Technology

International Battery Metals is about to solve the problem. The technology it has at its disposal will bring $84 billion in revenue in the development of lithium deposits in salt lakes. Lithium will be produced faster and cheaper.

At present, the production of lithium needs to undergo exposure and evaporation for up to 18 to 24 months. Until all other elements in the lithium ore are extracted, only lithium elements are left and the mining is completed. The biggest problem is that expanding lithium production is very difficult and thousands of evaporation ponds need to be built.

This new technology of IBAT is to go against the traditional method of removing evaporation ponds from the entire production of lithium. This technology will reduce the extraction time to 24 hours. Even better, its lithium extraction rate will increase from 40 to 90. Yuehan·buerba said: "Our technology can directly extract lithium, and the core of the technology, SelectiveAbsorption, is the only commercially proven solution. "

The traditional method requires the removal of other elements in lithium ore, and this new technology can directly extract lithium from lithium ore.

According to Buerba, the core idea of this technology is to extract lithium based on a continuous basis. The technique collects lithium in flowing brine and ignores other impurities, eventually resulting in diluted lithium chloride. The entire extraction process takes 24 hours, which means that people can leave the 18 to 24 months extraction cycle of the traditional method. This is undoubtedly a change in the technology of lithium extraction. Buerba said that the new technology will greatly meet the demand for lithium battery production.

$84 billion in new opportunities

It is estimated that lithium salt reserves account for about 66 tons of 14 million metric tons of lithium reserves worldwide. At current prices, these minerals are worth $84 billion. With the upcoming breakthrough in lithium extraction technology, International Battery Metals will become the fastest producing company in the world.

Faster means more cost efficiency.

While new entrants are still struggling with costs, IBAT's technology could keep them on par with the costs of the three lowest current lithium producers. The three major lithium producers include AlbemarleCorp, Sociedad QuimicayMineradChile and FMC. It's a huge opportunity, and the lithium industry is paying attention.

An experienced team of lithium pioneers

The inventor, Yuehan·buerba, who will be chairman and chief executive officer of IBAT, is an experienced lithium extraction expert. He will lead a team of engineering experts to further refine the new extraction technology obtained by IBAT.

The new technology acquired by IBAT is actually based on the technology that Buerba invented and sold in the 1990s when he was the chief technical expert of the lithium giant FMC. For nearly 20 years, the FMC has been using the same technology. The company is responsible for making the world's purest lithium carbonate. The company even got its own lithium label: "FMC-grade" lithium carbonate.

Since then, Buerba has made great progress in core technology, mainly in terms of extraction efficiency, cost and purity.

Luobote·mile will work with IBAT to raise funds. Luobote·mile has raised $500 million in early funding and is involved in the listing of seven companies, including NASDAQ and American Express. He is also the founder of gold mining company Crystal. Buerba has revolutionized lithium processing technology. With his new signature team, he has the potential to succeed again: releasing $84 billion worth of lithium.

conclusion

On a global scale, demand for lithium is rising sharply. Battery demand is expected to grow by 7.7 billion to 120 billion U.S. dollars by 2019, which is a huge market. What the world needs now is an adequate supply of high-quality lithium to boost battery demand. With the popularity of electric vehicles, the lithium battery market will reach 46 billion U.S. dollars by 2022.

The technology obtained by International Battery Metals may change the rules of the game. It can continuously extract more than 90 % of lithium from lithium salts through a technology that has a small impact on the environment. In addition, the extraction device can also be used for resource extensions or new resources.

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