> LITHIUM STATISTICS
> NITRATE MARKET & PRODUCTION

We believe that the lithium mining industry is just under $1 billion in market size in terms of annual sales of lithium carbonate, and is characterized by a high degree of geographic and corporate concentration. In 2008, Chile produced 46% of the lithium carbonate worldwide, while Argentina and Australia produced 14% and 23%, respectively. At the World Lithium Supply and Markets 2009 conference in Santiago, Chile, the world's top three lithium producers, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA ("SQM"), Chemetall Lithium and FMC Lithium, along with research groups TRU Group and Roskill, presented an outlook for lithium. According to the forecast, world lithium demand is expected to grow as much as three-fold in just over ten years. Growth is driven by secondary (rechargeable) batteries and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Current demand for lithium, measured as lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), is around 110,000 metric tons per annum (tpa). This is expected to rise to around 250,000 to 300,000 tpa in 2020 driven by rechargeable batteries and EV batteries, according to the outlook.