Read it from 1st post till last. I was able to sneak in free somehow again. Burba has things lined up

Burba said the numbers from US Magnesium should be coming in over the next two to three months. "Once we're through startup phase, and it's run for a reasonable amount of time, we'll start waving the victory flags."

A transportable plant would be especially beneficial for the large fields in the Smackover formation in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, said Burba, because it would negate the need to construct expensive pipelines to handle the brine. Because of the lower cost of the facility, lithium in the 200 to 350 parts per million range could make a good return on the investment, versus the 600 ppm more traditional companies are seeking.

What about required permits? Like the lithium royalty structure, they are still unknown. However, Burba confirms a discussion in Texas was very hopeful. "We've been talking to several different groups interested in working with us. Because we are not putting foundations in, we're not burying pipe, it's all transportable, the Railroad Commission in Texas has indicated that it's essentially the same thing as drilling equipment. It's kind of a non-event."

Burba touts two big benefits to the IBAT process. First is that no acid-based chemicals or solvents of any kind must be used. Second is that very little water is used. Of the water that is used, Burba says roughly 98% is recycled to use again. "When the water goes through the system it is clean water like drinking water and the solution that comes out is this high concentration lithium chloride solution with some impurities. The water is just recycled right back into our loop. We'll get about 10% to 14% lithium chloride solution. We would use a small evaporator to get the water out of it, boost it up to about 36% for shipment and then condense that water."

More traditional modes of lithium extraction — hard rock mining and evaporative mining — use "astronomical" amounts of water, and the water that is left over, Burba said, is filled with contaminants.

The plant at US Magnesium took a couple of months to set up. "Now we're in testing, we've commissioned it and are just entering startup. I'm anticipating it going full out in another 4 to 6 weeks. From the time we set the equipment down to having it up and operational was less than 6 months." Burba said the transportable plant is a fraction of the price of a traditional plant, and it can be moved afterward.

Next comes the Direct Lithium Extraction, and IBAT's patented processes. This is where it gets complicated and Burba's inner physical chemist professor comes out. The process is an absorption system "that uses a crystalline material that has very tiny holes within the structure of the compound and lithium can go into the holes — when you wash it in the water, it comes out in the water," Burba said. Lithium, which is the smallest metal ion in the periodic table, is the only thing that will fit in the holes.

Direct Lithium Extraction — or DLE — is not new or unique. It's the process of capturing lithium ions and separating those ions from the other — often nasty and dangerous stuff — they are in. Because brine is so toxic and so corrosive, the plants that distill the lithium are built near the source of the brine so it will not have to be transported. Remember that brine is so highly corrosive it is normally kept out of trucks and pipelines.

IBAT has developed a modular, transportable plant that can be set up on under two acres of stable soil, with no concrete foundations or dozens of construction workers or days off for bad weather. "A traditional plant will typically take 4 to 6 years to build," Burba said. "We built this plant in 10 months. If you roll engineering and procurement into it, you're probably 16 to 18 months, all in. Once we're really locked down on all our basic engineering, it will be less than a year. That is a huge time to market advantage."

It is somewhat ironic that lithium, now one of the world's most highly sought after minerals, is now being found in brine, a product once considered mostly worthless that is generally injected back into the ground to make it "go away."

Dr. John Burba
Dr. John Burba, founder and chief technology officer at International Battery Metals.
Courtesy International Battery Metals
For the past several months, Dr. Burba has been on and off in Salt Lake City, Utah at US Magnesium with 35 trucks driven from The Shaw Group's fabrication yard in Lake Charles. The Shaw Group and Burner Fire Control in Lafayette built a prototype that IBAT is now testing in Utah, a prototype that changes almost everything about the type of facility needed to extract lithium as well as the way it is extracted.

With all the competing press releases dropping on a weekly basis about "New!" "Better!" "Best!" lithium technology, being heard above that fray is a challenge. "We're a startup company, we're small, our balance sheet is pretty skimpy. It's new, and you get this 'How do I know this is really going to work?' I think what we're demonstrating with US Magnesium is going to be a giant lift for us." Burba believes it is the proverbial better mousetrap

The world's largest producer of lithium and a player in the north Louisiana/Arkansas Smackover Formation says that current lithium prices — which have fallen to a low not seen since 2021 — are "unsustainable" and cannot support spending on new plants, Bloomberg reported this week.

Officials with Albemarle Corp., which has a plant in Magnolia, Arkansas that is focused on the lithium play, made the comments at an industry conference in Las Vegas. But though current prices are down, Albemarle CEO Kent Masters said that long term growth for the "limited supply" of lithium — used in batteries that power the growing electric vehicle market worldwide — is "significant."

The timing of lower lithium prices and concern over the costs of traditional lithium plants could be a jump start for International Battery Metals, or IBAT, based in Houston, Texas.

Physical chemist Dr. John Burba is the the founder and chief technology officer for IBAT. His life has been a study of how and why chemical reactions work, and his focus for 40 years has been on lithium and salt water brine — a drilling by product that contains minerals and other far more environmentally hazardous contaminants such as salts, oil, and drilling injection water. Lithium has been found in quantity in Arkansas and Texas, and the same geological formation — called Smackover — extends into north Louisiana. Mineral consultant Skip Peel tells The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate that the brine in the north Louisiana Smackover is not only caustic but also contains dangerous hydrogen sulfide.

That’s weird. When I went on Twitter it said the same thing but I was able to read the article but I didn’t try the audio. I assumed it was the same. Let me see if I can Copy article

https://twitter.com/i/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMasonIsMyName%2Fstatus%2F1806727475671474637%3Fcxt%3DHBwWmoexlaLE5JIyAAAA%26cn%3DZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%253D%253D%26refsrc%3Demail&t=1+1719625512791&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&sig=f0b35a09f047d538480ed311a1af18f336a01139&iid=094ab98c0ad14b77b585c9c8aa6d4193&uid=3257135525&nid=244+272699400

Interesting Article posted on Twitter.

What a joke. An analyst downgrade to 181.00 from 182.00. Lol. They are not looking at the Big picture of how Data centers and cloud and YouTube is creating growth. Ad rev during election cycle will be Very strong imo and search will Always dominate. They saying Google may lose market share with Ai search elsewhere. I say no way imo

No dilution st least

Lol. Twitter otc pops are a thing of the past imo.

I have a feeling this is about to go Dark

Mf. 9 mil in 1 Q. This pulls back to .15 I’m in

Another W in the daily chart today. Call the WU-TANG. C.R.E.A.M. Another dollar Bill yallll. Tomorrow higher again. Sick

Hellooooo BOYZZZZZ

Agreed. Knowing we got financed again to expand unit makes me Excited. He sees 1st hand the workings. If it looked like a mess then we wouldn’t get the money. I say by September you gonna see some serious videos of this thing in action. The way the stock is holding up makes me think they are loading again at this price. Next stop 1.80 in no time imo

Broke 182.08. Another W 5 day chart. Something is coming to trap all shorts imo

I will say what I saw in the past with MSPC associated with IQST who was supposed to give dividends after IQST Was part owned went DARK

We will get our news. Maybe it’s HUGE. NDA Stpe of stuff

Sell this. Loll

If garbage froth apple can go up 30. We are due

I’m not selling even if it’s 0

Let’s do this this. So thin on news we can get to 3.00

So this stock is never gonna trade over .0030 again we all think?

lol. I been watching this stock long long time caution all. If u get profit take it. It’s a dilution machine. I refuse to ever buy again

Today Europe put a 38% tax on China EV imports. Maybe lithium prices will move up again soon

What is happening? There was a filing? I see pre market buying

So much for solving hiv. This feels like worse. Another otc scam

All on the ask. Something is brewing. Where’s Laker loser? Lol

What’s happening. 2.65 or lower. Told u take profits. Byeeeee

Yep they moving forward with dilution and a RS imo. What a joke u r

Hokiehead is a loser also

Sharpe loserrrrr

3 new contracts in 1 week. Layoffs. We are gonna explode again next earnings. And if Apple event June 10th brings us another contract. You should go long 4ever like me

Tik toc….It smells like a lot of money next 18 months in IBATF land

No question the trading today was not good. All bid selling. That 100 block got sold into a bid quick. But…we do have the ball rolling and time is on our Side. This company is much Stronger then Ever. Financing has never so strong. I think another unit is in fabrication already with SHAW imo. See ya tomorrow. It’s thin up

Might Bea warrant conversion. But we have a new long

Good news. New ceo. Updated lithium times. New financing to double unit capacity. Means unit is in place and working imo to upgrade it so quickly. Buy or get left behind by December imo.