International Battery Metals appoints new CEO as director buys hefty stake

Shares in Houston-based direct lithium extraction (DLE) company International Battery Metals (CSE: IBAT; US-OTC: IBATF) jumped 20% on Monday after the company announced a new CEO and that a board member bought more than a quarter of the company.

Iris Jancik will become CEO in mid-August, International Battery Metals (IBAT) said in release. The former executive at desalination and water treatment company IDE Americas, a subsidiary of Israel-based Alfa Water Partners, replaces Garry Flowers.

The former CEO joined the company for two years, starting as president in July 2022. Flowers is credited with accelerating the company’s in-house technology to its first commercial stage.

“IBAT’s proprietary commercialized DLE technology is proven, ready to push-start a U.S. lithium industry, and revolutionize global production, making this a prime time to join the organization,” Jancik said in Monday’s release.

On May 29, International Battery Metals said that Jacob Warnock, a director installed on Feb. 22, acquired 25.3% of the company via an investment vehicle called EV Metals VI, which he owns.

Warnock, who is the founder and CEO of oil and gas royalty company Silver Creek Resources, plans to acquire about 8.5 million units of IBAT. Each unit includes one common share and one warrant to buy a share at 96¢ for two years. Warnock will buy the securities through a non-brokered private placement for $6.5 million and can enter subscription agreements to buy another US$8.9 million in units until June 24. Warnock has stated these securities were bought for investment purposes.

IBAT hit an early intra-day high at $1.67 in Toronto before falling back to $1.40 per share by early afternoon Monday. It closed at $1.39 on Friday. It has a market capitalization of $345 million.

DLE advantage

The company plans to start production in June from its first DLE plant, at US Magnesium’s operations near Salt Lake City. It has an initial design capacity of 5,000 tonnes a year. It’s North America’s first commercial DLE plant and world’s first modular DLE plant, the company says.

Global lithium production, estimated at 180,000 tonnes last year, needs to rise to meet demand in 2030 that’s expected to outstrip the 2.4 million tonnes of forecasted available lithium carbonate-equivalent.

The world is racing to realize the energy transition before climate-based deadlines by 2030 and 2050. Several established lithium companies and new entrants are targeting DLE production in the coming years. Conventional DLE plants can take five to six years to deploy, while International Battery’s modular plant can deploy in 18 months, the company said.

Market share

The company says a single DLE project in Argentina supplied about 22,000 tonnes last year, implying that IBAT could grab market share quickly.

“Burgeoning battery demand requires a wholesale change in how lithium is produced, and IBAT delivers the right combination of efficiency, sustainability and scalability to reach new heights,” Jancik said.

The company has demonstrated that the technology can extract lithium from underground brine sources and return the lithium-depleted brine to the same subsurface aquifer in a closed recycling loop.

The modular plant can extract over 97% of available lithium from brine, IBAT says. Due to the plant’s water recovery rate of up to 98%, the technology is good for areas where water use is sensitive.