International Battery Metals Announces Completion of Phase 2 Engineering On its Mobile Extraction System
Vancouver, November 6, 2018 - International Battery Metals Ltd. (CSE: IBAT) ("IBAT" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has completed its Phase 2 engineering study, design, and cost analysis.
Upon receipt of the Phase 2 Engineering Report, Dr. John Burba, CEO of IBAT, stated: "We are very pleased with the work product that our engineering partner, Impact Engineering, has presented to us. The work was timely and thorough. Furthermore, we believe that their engineering refinements to our design will create additional value to IBAT and the industry."
Based on this Engineering Report, IBAT is on track to placing its first extraction system in operation next year. This system will provide enough capacity to produce commercial quantities of high purity 40% LiCl and provides significant environmental advantages:
1. Unlike evaporative processes that can damage sensitive salars, such as those found in South America, IBAT's process does not evaporate water from the brine. Instead, it extracts lithium from the brine and returns it back to the resource. This maintains the resource water balance and protects delicate ecosystems.
IBAT's process does not utilize any solvents or foreign chemicals that will alter the brine chemistry. This feature is important to the protection of resource ecology. Returning brine to the resource could be questionable if the return brine is contaminated with organic solvents or other chemicals that are not native to the ecosystem.
2. IBAT's process is designed to recycle approximately 95% of its process water. IBAT's water recovery system will be particularly important in desert areas such as South American Salars, and areas where potable ground water is in short supply.
About IBAT
IBAT is an advanced disruptive technology company focused on lithium brine extraction. The company is in the process of creating and applying intellectual property related to lithium extraction from brines. IBAT's unique extraction process is environmentally friendly, low cost, and has the potential to produce high-quality, commercial grade lithium at a much faster rate than the current industry standards.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Dr. John Burba"
President, CEO, and Director
Phone: (778) 939-4228
Forward-looking statements
This news release of International Battery Metals Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (the "company") includes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of regulation and legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company's Annual Report and the company's other filings with the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) available at the CSE's Internet site (www.thecse.com).