Dear investors,

As the curtain closes on 2024, I’d like to take this opportunity to commemorate 2024 milestones and look ahead to opportunities in 2025 in our increasingly dynamic and rapidly growing industry.

This year has been transformative for IBAT, marked by achievements that highlight our leadership in the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) space:

• Raised $18.9 million to support operations
• Mobilized a modular DLE Plant from Louisiana to Utah in less than three months
• Launched the first full-scale commercial DLE operations in North America
• Collaborated with resource holders to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate
• Released a case study documenting the success of our operations
• Tested and confirmed the outstanding durability of our proprietary absorbent material
• Expanded and strengthened the management team to support our continued growth

Ringing the Bell

Capping off a momentous year, we had the honor of ringing the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange to celebrate our joining the TSXV (IBAT). Our listing on the TSXV marks the latest milestone for IBAT and underscores the value of our sustainable, low-cost, quick-to-build, elegantly designed DLE technology. The exchange’s motto is “where ideas and innovation meet capital,” which perfectly encapsulates why we moved our listing to TSXV. This established exchange enables us to embark on the next level for IBAT, as we explore new commercial partnerships, usher in new governance, and engage with a broader array of industry stakeholders. Our listing on this exchange reflects the evolution of IBAT as a technology company to a commercial operator with a significant focus on the mining and metals sector. This ultimately raises our profile with a broader investor audience.
It was a fitting way to conclude a momentous year while setting the stage for the opportunities ahead in 2025.

Differentiating Commercial vs. Pilot Operations

We continue to garner attention for our success in developing the world’s first commercial modular DLE plant and operating the first commercial DLE plant in North America. Earlier this month, I captivated the audience at the Direct Lithium Extraction USA conference in California by sharing a large sample of 99.9% purity battery-grade lithium carbonate produced from the lithium chloride IBAT extracted this summer from our facility on the ground in Utah. This conference highlighted IBAT's leadership as a commercial DLE producer while competitors remain in pilot mode.

Case in Point

We further underscored our commercial success by releasing a case study this month describing our patented technology's consistent production of lithium chloride feedstock for our Utah customer’s lithium carbonate output. The case study clearly shows how our DLE is efficient and effective, with the competitive advantage of lower capital and operating expense compared to other lithium extraction methods. Despite current depressed pricing in the lithium market, our technology remains economically viable in terms of both CAPEX and OPEX. The market is making progress on the regulatory front, paving the way for commercial lithium extraction across the United States. IBAT remains focused on emerging opportunities as they develop, ensuring we are well-positioned when they materialize.

Unmatched Material Durability: A Game Changer

In our discussions with potential customers, we are often asked about the durability of our proprietary absorbent material and how many cycles it will last. Generally speaking, a significant challenge for the DLE industry has been the rapid degradation of the various adsorbent, absorbent and filter membranes used by competitors when they have tried to scale from the laboratory to the pilot level, and none of them have progressed to commercial-scale operations. This can lead to significant operating costs and delays resulting from long-lead manufacturing times.

By contrast, our proprietary absorbent material showed outstanding durability in commercial operations. We ran over 8,400 load-strip cycles across 12 fully commercial-scale production columns in our MDLE plant, and laboratory qualification tests confirmed no loss of integrity or productive capacity of our proprietary absorbent material.

Furthermore, one of the challenging issues for lithium extraction is a high degree of variability in the chemical make-up of source material, with iron being one of the most challenging contaminants the DLE industry encounters. After experiencing iron contamination during operations, we flushed our material, and again, laboratory testing confirmed no loss of integrity or productive capacity of our proprietary absorbent material. The durability of our proprietary absorbent material clears a critical hurdle for the successful long-term development of the DLE industry. These results underscore our leadership in overcoming scalability challenges confounding our competitors.

New Horizons

We are excited about the potential for more transformative opportunities in our future as the lithium landscape expands. A landmark USGS study estimates Smackover lithium reserves in southwestern Arkansas alone hold 5-19 million tons, signaling a future where the U.S. could reduce its reliance on imports and even become an exporter. As oil and gas majors pursue DLE opportunities, IBAT is well-positioned to capitalize on this growth through our patented, scalable technology.

What’s Next

We are actively conducting due diligence with several potential partners as we pursue a new home for our MDLE plant and new plant construction projects. More to come… .

Thank you for your continued interest in IBAT and for being part of this journey.

Sincerely,
Iris Jancik
CEO