IBAT Leadership Team
We value honesty, hard work, and trust.
“IBAT extracts lithium in an environmentally sustainable way that does not impact water resources, that is why I believe in this company. That is why I decided to join the IBAT team.”
- Maria Echaveste, former Senior White House Advisor and IBAT Director
Executive Team
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Garry Flowers Chief Executive Officer Garry Flowers is a seasoned senior executive in intensive construction and operations management. He has served as Executive Vice President and Section 16b Officer since 2016 for the Fluor Corporation, responsible for Construction & Fabrication, HSE, Corporate Security, Corporate Investigations, Industrial Relations, Corporate Supply Chain, and Corporate Risk. Alongside this role, Mr. Flowers was president and chief executive officer of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, the Fluor-led partnership which oversaw the management, cleanup, and operations at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. In this position, Mr. Flowers led the team constructing four 1200-megawatt, nuclear-powered power projects for two public utilities in South Carolina and Georgia, valued at 9 billion dollars. Flowers also held oversight of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Cable Stay Bridge, a 3.2-billion-dollar project, the Nuclear Weapons Storage facility at the F.E. Warren U.S. AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the U.S. Army Nitrocellulose Project in Radford, Virginia. More recently, Mr. Flowers served as Group President of Global Services, Operations and Maintenance wherein he managed a 3 billion operations and maintenance business department with 19,000 employees in over 100 countries, with subsidiaries AMECO and TRS. Notably, in this role, he oversaw a 500-million-dollar contract between AMECO and the U.S. Army to equip U.S. bases in Iraq. He is active in a variety of civic and professional organizations: he is a past member of the Executive Council of the U.S. Department of State, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) and was a director on the board of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Furman University in South Carolina.
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Daniel Christie CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Dan is a financial leader and CFO with a track record of driving growth and profitability, delivering measurable improvements, and scaling up organizations to create value. He brings extensive experience in software, Internet, technology manufacturing operations, global reporting, revenue recognition, cost & transfer pricing, financial system implementation/ conversion, and SEC, GAAP, IFRS & SOX404 audit/compliance. Dan has served as a key executive team member for critical transactions including acquisition/integration, restructuring/divestiture, and equity and debt raises.
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Joshua Hebert VP of Field Operations 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.
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John Burba, Ph.D. Executive CHAIRMAN & Director of Global Technology 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.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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William M. Webster, IV BOARD DIRECTOR William M. Webster is an American business leader and entrepreneur who has experience ranging from serving in the highest levels of government under the Bush and Clinton Administrations to sitting on corporate and not-for-profit boards. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and German from Washington & Lee University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. Currently, Mr. Webster is an Adjunct Professor of health care policy at Wofford College and serves on the Board of Directors of companies listed on both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
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Maria Echaveste BOARD DIRECTOR Maria Echaveste brings with her a distinguished career that spans various senior leadership positions. She has held various positions within the United States of America White House, such as Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy Advisor and Special Representative to Boliva under the Clinton and Obama Administrations, directed programming and social policy at U.C. Berkeley, and co-founded a D.C.-based strategic and policy consulting group, NVG. Ms. Echaveste received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Stanford University and a Juris Doctorate from U.C. Berkeley. Currently, she serves as the President and the Chief Executive Officer of The Opportunity Institute, and is on the board of directors of UCSF-Benioff Oakland Children's Hospital, Mi Familia Vota, and the Level Playing Field Institute.
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Tony Colletti BOARD DIRECTOR Tony Colletti is a government relations expert and business consultant in the US. Currently, he is the Chief Operating Officer of 3867 Partners, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in the acquisition and turnaround of mid-size U.S. companies. He also leads Colletti & Associates, a national government relations consulting firm with 30 years of experience cultivating and implementing strategies related to public affairs, corporate leadership, and crisis management issues. Additionally, Mr. Colletti is a member of the Illinois and Florida Bar Associations. Previously, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc. (NYSE: AEA) until its sale in 2011, and also served as a member’s representative to the Board of Managers of Sun Times Media Holdings, LLC—parent of the Chicago Sun Times newspaper—until its sale in 2011. Mr. Colletti earned a Bachelor of Science from Bradley University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
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Foy Wyman Morgan, Ph.D. BOARD DIRECTOR Foy Wyman Morgan is an established executive with in-house corporate and consulting experience in developing biopharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and minerals. Notably, Mr. Morgan worked Director of Technology for the FMC Corporation. In this role, he led the development and implementation of breakthrough technology in selective absorption, which produces lithium chloride from a lithium-bearing brine source in Argentina. The production facility which utilizes this technology has been in continuous operation since the late 1990’s, consistently and successfully producing low-cost, high-purity lithium chloride. Mr. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Florence State College (University of North Alabama) and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Florida. Currently, Mr. Morgan serves as the President of Strategic Technology Resources, LLC, and Senior Vice President of Infinity Resources, LLC.
Advisory Board
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Rita Adiani Advisory Board Member Rita Adiani brings with her significant capital raising, M&A and resource & energy transition technology integration experience. She has spent over 17 years in the resource industry spanning senior executive industry roles, private equity, investment banking and corporate law. She is currently Senior Vice President at Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (TSX listed) where she has been responsible for leading execution of the initial public offering and other corporate development and finance activities, including the recent proposed partnership with a technology company. During her career she has been responsible for and been involved in transactions raising over US$10 billion of capital globally.
She is admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales (currently non-practicing) and practiced corporate law at Linklaters LLP in London and Dubai. She is a law graduate from the University of Oxford and University of Sheffield. She has a Chartered Financial Analyst qualification in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute and also has a Certificate in Mining Studies — Mining & Minerals Engineering from the University of British Columbia (Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering). Currently she also serves on the boards of Brixton Metals Corporation, Vancouver (TSX-V).