LITHIUM SEPARATION USING DAC:

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The use of Dry Air Concentrators for recovery of gold and heavy minerals has been utilized by
Vortex Technology LLC. for over 20 years. Recovery of these valuable target elements is
achieved without the use of chemicals or water in the concentration stage. We now feel the time is perfect to aggressively pursue this technology for separation & recovery of Lithium from not only sedimentary deposits (Clays) but also hard rock deposits (spodumene ores) as well. Lithium and sources of Lithium have numerous industries and large conglomerates exploring for new sources of the essential element. Lithium is the lightest metal and the least dense solid material. Prices have shot up in 2016 going from a price of around $6,000 dollars per metric ton (99% Lithium Carbonate) to slightly over $13,000 MT. The spike in prices is mainly caused by the Chinese market and concerns that China will not have enough sources of Lithium to meet their needs in the coming years. Lithium production for 2015 was 32,000 metric tons, which was a 5% increase over
2014.



Vortex Lithium Model

Use DAC for SEPARATION of LITHIUM

     • Focus on Hard Rock and Clay sources
     • Separate the Host Lithium mineralization from the unwanted portion
     • Up-grade the Li content in the primary separation stage to a percent suitable and
        economically feasible for further refining to Li Carbonate or other.
     • Initial Testing on Vortex Technology's Clayton Valley Nevada Project showed that DAC can separate Majority of
        the contained Lithium present in the Surface Clay material.

Use ECL for SOLUBILIZATION of LITHIUM
  • Vortex has Developed a proprietary procedure for leaching the separated Lithium: Leaching Procedure is Called ECL
  • ECL requires no roasting of ores to liberate the Lithium
  • Halogen Based Procedure
  • Near Neutral pH Range
  • Leach Solution can be Re-Used thus creating a Closed Loop System (Environmentally Friendly)

MARKET FORECAST
    Lithium Supply
  •  Global lithium supply is concentrated in relatively few locations; it is dominated by Australian
         hard-rock production (Greenbushes), and South American brine deposits in Argentina and
         Chile.
  • The market is currently dominated by a small number of companies which control around 50%
        of supply; Albemarle (ALB US), which owns Rockwood Lithium, SQM (SQM US), FMC
        (FMC US) and Chengdu Tianqi listed on the Shenzhen Exchange.
  • South American brine supply has risks of disruption, both geo-political and climatic. Supply in
        2015 was disrupted by increased rainfall. Most recently, SQM’s Atacama core operations lease
        has been under threat from an arbitration case, where the lessor is seeking early termination of
        the lease.
  • Lithium production from other sources, such as clay deposits, if successful would bring about a
        welcome addition to supply.
  • Future supply diversification to bring new projects on stream in safe jurisdictions around the
        world is critical to the ongoing “green revolution”.

     Lithium Demand
Pollution due to fossil fuel emissions kills millions every year, and greenhouse gas emissions are causing rapid climate change. The world is thus increasingly switching to renewable energy sources, which due to their “peaks and troughs” in power production require cheap, efficient energy storage to ensure smooth delivery to the end-user. This requires rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Demand for lithium batteries has been growing at about 25 percent a year, outpacing the 4 percent to 5 percent overall gain in lithium production. It is estimated that the total demand for lithium during the
next 90-year period, analyzed at 12–20 million tons.