Great Find Jimmer!
The paper states current (no pun intended!) price per Kwh as $502.80 and with the suggested improvements noted in the paper, could be reduced to $370.30 per Kwh.
Tesla are talking about bringing that down to about $100 per Kwh in five years.
Interesting to see that the main 'improvement' suggested was that the Anode material (Graphite!) be doubled in thickness!
The PEA used $7,500 per ton. If we assume a Ton as 2000 lbs then that is US$3.75 per lb.
As you say, if battery manufacturers are currently paying $9 a lb that leaves us a lot of wiggle room. For a start it suggests a compelling reason for any battery manufacturer to lock in that price differential today by securing the deposit for themselves.
This just gets better and better!
Boxterfan