Tesla offered $325 million for Salton Sea startup
John Burba put the lithium extraction process in here Wow !!
Now this technology is in International Battery Metals !!
The letter from Elon Musk left no doubt about his intentions: He wanted Simbol Materials, and he was willing to pay handsomely for it.
Simbol claimed it had developed extraordinary technology for extracting lithium — a key ingredient in the batteries that power Tesla's electric cars — from the mineral-rich brine by the southern shore of the Salton Sea, southeast of Southern California's Coachella Valley. Tesla's rock-star co-founder and chief executive was on the hunt for lithium, and Simbol planned to produce huge quantities of the valuable metal.
Musk's preliminary offer for the startup: $325 million, paid in Tesla stock.
"This is a compelling opportunity to combine two innovative companies on a mission to advance clean and sustainable energy technologies worldwide," Musk wrote in a June 21, 2014 letter to Simbol CEO John Burba, a copy of which was obtained by The Desert Sun and verified by a person with knowledge of the negotiations. "We're very impressed with what you and your management team have created at Simbol."
"Tesla is prepared to move quickly to negotiate a potential transaction," Musk added.
Simbol desperately needed new funding to stay afloat, and Tesla's $325 million purchase offer — the size of which has never previously been reported — may have represented the company's last, best hope. The money also would have been a boon for Imperial County, an impoverished, largely agricultural corner of California where the unemployment rate regularly tops 20 percent.
Simbol Materials' Imperial Valley demonstration plant
