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.
CERAMICS
GLASS
DETERGENT
FERTILIZER
BORON
STEEL
CHASSIS
FIRE
RETARDENT
PERMANENT
MAGNETS
NUCLEAR
REACTORS
COSMETICS
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.
Materials
Applications
GDP+ Growth
on Large Base
on Large Base
Ulexite
Colemanite
Industrial
Fertilizers
Fertilizers
High-end
Fiberglass
Fiberglass
Ceramics
High Growth
High Value
High Value
Boric Acid
Boron Oxide
Solar PV Glass
EV Magnets /
Panel / Glass
Panel / Glass
Wind Turbine
Blades
Blades
High Growth
Higher Value
Higher Value
Boron
Carbides
Carbides
Boron
Nitrides
Nitrides
Aerospace
Ceramics
Ceramics
Borosilicate
Glass for Fiber
Optic Networks
Glass for Fiber
Optic Networks
Glass, Ceramics
and Materials
for Satellites
and Materials
for Satellites
Images courtesy of Pixabay
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.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
~30% CAGR
Global Electric Vehicle
Stock Growth
(2020-2030)
~30% CAGR
Global Electric Vehicle
Stock by 2030
GREEN ENERGY
5.8% CAGR
Global Installed Wind
& Solar Capacity
(2019-2050)
~$55 Trillion
Global “Green” Energy
Infrastructure Investment
(2016-2050)
FOOD SECURITY
+1.9 Billion
Increase in Global
Population by
2050
>40%
Lands Experiencing
Severe Yield Reductions
by 2050
DOMESTIC SECURITY
3.3% CAGR
Growth in Global
Military Spending
(2000-2020)
~$2.0 Trillion
Global Spending on
Defense (2020)
GLOBAL SUPPLY AT RISK WITH A DUOPOLY MARKET; GOVERNMENTS 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.
GLOBAL BORATE PRODUCTION
of global supply from Turkey and USA
of downstream Boron Carbide market is supplied by China
of global supply from Turkey and USA
of downstream Boron Carbide market is supplied by China
Establishment of the Critical Minerals Strategy Establishing that Several Clean Energy Technologies Materials are at Risk of Supply Disruptions
December 2010
Executive Order 13817 – “A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Materials”
December 2017
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)
BORON DEMAND IMBALANCE1
(K TONNES; BORIC ACID EQUIVALENT)
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
- 400ktpa+ 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
*Subject to completion of a bankable feasibility study, detailed engineering and financing (post 2023).
Source: Worldometers and IEA.
