General Discussion Topics, page-13285

This was a very informative podcast - Simon Moores of benchmark minerals is one of my favorite people to hear from. Benchmark mineral intelligence speaks with all of the major stakeholders, they have databases of knowledge that can show us where the industry is headed and that is why they have been asked on 3 separate occasions to testify in the US senate.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/simon-moores-managing-director-benchmark-minerals-chinas/id1510140333?i=1000528945990

A couple of takeaways here with respect to lithium supply and demand and definitely supply with respect to North America.

1. It takes 5 to 7 years to build a lithium mine.
2. It takes 24 months to build a battery cell plant.
3. There are currently 213 battery mega factories world wide, most of which are in China.

*4. The US has moved from 3 mega factories to 14.
5. GM now has planned a total of 4 mega factories

If you sit back and logically think about point 1,2 from above and then apply it to points 4,5 you will understand why Sayona will become one of the most important companies in the battery chain. This is why I think we will be getting Tansim proven up very quickly and why I also think we will slowly (or maybe not so slowly) start acquiring additional assets in and around NAL / Authier. And also why further west in Ontario will also start to heat up. At the moment there is not enough hard-rock asset available to run the extra 11 mega factories that will be completed in the next 2 years, this means some of those 11 will need to buy their raw materials from brine producer and pay the added premium to convert carbonate to hydroxide or to buy from Australia - both of these will be a magnitude more expensive than purchasing from Quebec.