Battery business is capital intensive and future margins are uncertain. There will be more battery capacity than raw mineral supply. I think battery manufacturers will have a difficult road ahead and many will go bust. Maybe we can get into batteries down the line after things shake out, but in the short to medium term I see more return on investment by focusing on our expertise as a specialty chemical producer. Perhaps a partnership with a cathode producer or Solid Power with their lithium sulfide based solid electrolyte seems a more likely first step in vertical integration. I think the battery plant plans near Thacker Pass was more a strategy to make a joint venture attractive to the most potential partners which once included battery manufacturers. Now that we are presumably flush with offers, we can be more selective and have taken that option off the table. 

AXP