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Boron 101

Boron : A Critical Super Material

Boron is the 5th element on the Periodic Table with a powerful combination of physical properties, including hardness, light weight, and heat resistance.

Boron can take the raw material form of ores and concentrates but can be further refined into higher value specialty and advanced materials.

5E plans to focus on these BORON+ specialty and advanced materials.

USED IN EVERYDAY AND CRITICAL FUTURE FACING APPLICATIONS

Boron’s physical properties make it a critical material and limited substitute ingredient in everyday and future facing applications, including permanent magnets, electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, fertilizers, specialty glass in cell phones, etc.

USAGE AND VALUE IN USE SHIFTING TOWARDS FUTURE FACING APPLICATIONS

BORON+ is a critical building block in enabling decarbonization and other future facing applications with high growth and value in use attributes.

EXPLOSIVE DEMAND GROWTH DRIVEN BY KEY DECARBONIZATION SECTORS

Demand for high quality boron is accelerating given robust growth in electric vehicles, green energy, food security, and domestic security.

GLOBAL SUPPLY AT RISK WITH A DUOPOLY MARKET; GOVERNMENT TAKING NOTICE

Boron is susceptible to supply disruption given 85% of production is sourced from a politically and economically unstable Turkey and a non-core declining asset in the US.

 

Importantly, the majority of refined Boron specialty and advanced materials are imported from China. 80% of Boron Carbides are sourced from China today.

 

The global supply chain demands a new, stable source to deliver critical BORON+ specialty and advanced materials.

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Establishment of the Critical Minerals Strategy Establishing that Several Clean Energy Technologies Materials are at Risk of Supply Disruptions
December 2010
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Executive Order 13817 – “A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Materials”
December 2017
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Designation of Boron as “High” Critical Status in their Critical Raw Materials for Strategic Technologies and Sectors in the EU
2020

SUPPLY GAP FORMING AS CHALLENGED GLOBAL SUPPLY FACES UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND

Boron demand is forecasted to increase 10x by 2050 from 2020 levels driven by an acceleration of both future facing decarbonization and traditional
applications.

Under this demand curve, a supply gap is forming given the existence of only 6 potential Boron projects globally. For context, Boron offers greater demand growth than Lithium but there are hundreds of Lithium projects and only 6 potential Boron projects.

Potential for new Boron projects is also limited by scarcity of the resource given stringent geological requirements and relatively low concentration
in the earth’s crust.

BORON DEMAND GROWTH1

(k tonnes; boric acid equivalent)

Expected Demand Growth Driven by Key Decarbonization Sectors

SUPPLY / DEMAND IMBALANCE1

(k tonnes; boric acid equivalent)

Continued Supply Pressures Bringing the Boron Supply Gap into Focus

Source: Credit Suisse Equity Research. (1)
Based on “High Demand” case. Note: Elemental boron figures converted to boric acid equivalent at a ratio of 1-to-5.72.

BUILDING A FULLY INTEGRATED BORON+ ADVANCED MATERIALS BUSINESS

  • Backwards integration
  • Access to low cost supply
  • 450stpa+ target run-rate production*
  • 5.1% boric acid in solution
  • Low carbon footprint
  • Attractive cost profile via by-product sales
  • Build or buy advanced material capabilities
  • Enter agreements to deliver BORON+ advanced materials
  • Go-to-market strategy underpinned by long-term partnerships
  • R&D to innovate new decarbonization-enabling applications

5E AS LEADER ACROSS THE BORON+ ADVANCED MATERIALS SUPPLY CHAIN

MINERAL
Raw Material
$

2ND DERIVATIVE
Boric Acid
$$

3RD DERIVATIVE
Boron Oxide
$$$

4TH+ DERIVATIVES
Carbides/Nitrides
$$$$

APPLICATIONS