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International Battery Metals: US Patent Office Issues Patent for Modular Extraction Apparatus
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 2, 2022 /CNW/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (the "Company") (CSE: IBAT) (OTC: IBATF) (FSE: 8RE) the Company announced today that it ha
About this update from International Battery Metals Ltd
[{"type":"text","content":" VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 2, 2022 /CNW/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (the \"Company\") (CSE: IBAT) (OTC: IBATF) (FSE: 8RE) the Company announced today that it has received notification that its patent Number 11,229,880, titled \"MODULAR EXTRACTION APPARATUS\" has been issued by the United States Patent Office. This is a key patent that covers the Company's Mobile Extraction Plant which is currently in the final stages of fabrication. The Company continues to file and prosecute additional patents to reinforce and protect its proprietary technology. Dr. John Burba stated that \"this patent issuance is a major milestone for the Company. It provides intellectual property protection for our mobile extraction technology.\" IBAT began construction of its first Mobile Extraction Plant in April 2021. Completion is expected in February, 10 months from the beginning of construction. This plant is designed to produce between 2500 and 5000 MT/yr LCE depending on the lithium concentration of the ultimate feed brine. IBAT's licensee and partner in Chile and Argentina, Ensorcia Metals Corporation and its affiliate Sorcia Minerals LLC are currently determining which of its salars will host the plant. Factory acceptance testing is expected to begin in March at a facility in Lake Charles, La. This will be followed by extensive testing of key performance and environmental protection aspects of the plant design. As part of this testing, the company plans to extract lithium chloride from large volumes of brines that will be shipped to Lake Charles from Texas and Argentina. Due to the limitations associated with brine transportation, the company will operate at less than 10% of the design capacity. However, this will be sufficient to demonstrate basic performance parameters of the equipment. Dr. Burba stated that \"we plan to operate at brine flow rates of around 24,000 gallons per day. This is only about 8% of the plant's total capacity. However, it will be sufficient for us to test certain design criteria and to demonstrate the efficiencies of the plant's lithium chloride extraction and water recycle operations. During the testing process, adjustments and refinements will be made to fine tune the unit. The equipment will then be shipped to its destination in South America.&nbs...