IBAT Technology is Reshaping the Future of Lithium Extraction

Dr. John Burba is a physical chemist and a world-renowned pioneer in lithium and other mineral extraction technologies. His more than 40-year career features a number of lithium brine projects in North and South America, notably with Dow Chemical Co., FMC Corp., and Chemtura Corp. Most recently, Dr. Burba served as CEO of Simbol materials, a company focused on the recovery of lithium from geothermal brines in Southern California. Under his leadership, Simbol successfully developed a proprietary process capable of producing low-cost, high-purity lithium products from brines that were previously believed to be too high in contaminants to be economically processed. Dr. Burba also recently served as CTO and Executive VP of Molycorp Inc., where he was instrumental in identifying and developing numerous rare earths technologies as part for the Project Phoenix re-development of the Mountain Pass facilities. Dr. Burba received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and completed doctoral studies in Physical Chemistry at Baylor University. He now serves as the founder and CEO of International Battery Metals.

Garrett Galloway is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development overseeing IBAT's strategic growth through business development, partnerships, strategic finance initiatives, and investor relations activities. He has over 15 years of experience in the energy industry including multiple finance positions, complex transactions, and debt and equity capital markets. Prior to IBAT, Garrett was Vice President of Finance at QuarterNorth Energy with prior management experience at other private and public energy companies. He began his career in the energy group of BOK Financial. Garrett has a bachelor's degree in business and finance from the University of Alabama.

Josh has over 20 years experience in water treatment for the Oil & Gas industry with specialization in produced water, wastewater treatment and flow back treatments from first stage through tertiary.  Participated/led installation and commissioning of 34 water treatment packages in 20 countries ranging from 10K BPD to 900K BPD, costing up to $40M, including worlds largest offshore float cell (HIGF).  T2 certified and winner of multiple corporate and industry awards, including Water to Sea Special Recognition Award.  Issued US Patent No. 10,239,771. 

Norma L. Garcia joined International Battery Metals Ltd. in November 2024 as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Norma brings over 20 years of public company legal experience in international, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, risk management, litigation and commercial transactions and oversees the company’s legal strategy while leading its ethics, and compliance initiatives.

Before joining International Battery Metals, Norma served as General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer at Stryve Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNAX), managing litigation, corporate governance and driving talent retention strategies.

Earlier, at Rent-A-Center (Nasdaq: UPBD), Norma rose to VP Assistant General Counsel & Chief Diversity Officer, where she led international legal strategy, diversity initiatives, risk management, and compliance programs. Norma’s career began at Walmart, where she handled class action litigation, compliance initiatives, real estate, and employment matters, and she started her legal journey as an Assistant District Attorney with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office in McKinney, Texas.

Norma’s extensive experience and proven leadership in legal strategy, corporate governance, and compliance make her a key contributor to IBAT’s mission of driving innovation.

Don Bender serves as the Director of Engineering for IBAT.   Don has extensive experience in the oil and gas and lithium industries.   Mr. Bender spent the first 20 years of his career as a Process Engineer working on Canadian Oil Sand Mega projects.   Mr. Bender is highly analytical and brings a pragmatic problem-solving approach to the exciting world of Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE").   Mr. Bender has worked with several Canadian and US Lithium based companies in the DLE space since 2021.   Mr. Bender joined IBAT as Director of Engineering in early 2025.