And the NEW DLE

VUL have mentioned the large California located lithium in geothermal brine resource a few times. The $$$ are there in the USA to develop the best DLE in the world. And this has finally been done. It may be improved yet again, but for now, the breakthrough is very significant imo.
There are also some key players who have invested in this technology! Developed by Lilac Solutions.
Bill Gates $20 million via his "Breakthough Energy Ventures" Company, Alibaba's Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg.
Lilac Solutions have progressed to very large scale tests of their new technology which is based on "unique ion exchange beads". They have just partnered with CTR, Controlled Thermal Resources, a new power supply Company, to incorporate a pilot DLE plant in the thermal bores. This is now under construction. It will produce high purity battery grade Lithium Carbonate at 17,350 tonnes/annum initially, with potential scale-up to 34,700 LCE by 2025. The cost of production will be far less than any other form of Lithium production, more environmentally friendly, and close to end users in the States.
So does VUL continue with their own testing or pay Lilac Solutions for their technology? Both parties would know what each other are up to. Our new Director may well have come on board to negotiate the best outcome for VUL.
If you had doubts about DLE in the past, this puts those to rest. They are now irrelevant!
And the Bill Gates and friends of this world are "insiders".
DYOR. And Happy Days ahead.