Business View Magazine November-December 2018

14 15 OPENING LINES ELEMENT V: THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF F orget about lithium, last year’s “White Petro- leum.” It’s about to be left in the dust. The mineral of the moment is Vanadium…the key to the next energy revolution. Analysts pegged it as the “metal to watch” in January. And they were right. The price of vanadium has soared 300% in the past three years. And one company is sitting on the only potential major U.S. deposit of Element 23: United Battery Metals Why is it so important? Well, Vanadium is likely to displace lithium as the world’s most important battery metal. That’s according to billionaire Robert Friedland, who says there’s a revolution coming in energy storage, and it’s all thanks to Vanadium. Flow batteries, running on “liquid electricity,” are about to take the energy storage world by storm. The White House has labeled Vanadium as a mineral crucial to national security. But there’s no domestic supply. The U.S. could fall behind, but UBM is trying to fill the gap. Here are 5 reasons investors should take note: #1 THE FUTURE OF ENERGY Vanadium redox flow batteries, or VRFB, are about to become the foundation of energy stor- age. Robert Friedland, legendary mining billion- aire and recipient of the 2017 Northern Miner’s Lifetime Achievement Award, knows vanadium is revolutionary, evolutionary, and a technology dream come true. “The beauty of the vanadium redox battery is that you can charge and dis- charge it at the same time, something that can’t be done with a lithium battery.” A study completed last year by the Imperial College London found that flow batteries beat out their lithium competitors: they would require an investment of only $4 billion to reach a level lithium could only reach after $94 billion. And the demand for Vanadium is expected to skyrock- et, which is why prices have been climbing all year, doubling since September 2017 and United Battery Metals is positioning itself to benefit from the coming boom. #2 GLOBAL BATTLE FOR ELEMENT 23 The power of vanadium is no secret. In fact, va-