International Battery Metals Ltd (IBATF)

[Harbor6460]

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."