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SPECIALTY METALS SURVEY PART 1 lithium | vanadium | indium by Simon Rees THINK ABOUT MODERN LIFE. To what one item are you most tied? For many, it is likely their smartphone or tablet. With easy-to-use interfaces, internet accessibility and an avalanche of apps, these tools are critical to the way business is conducted. To many these devices also play a critical role in their leisure activities. Powering this technology are lithium-ion polymer batteries, and indium is an integral element for touch-screens (it is also a key element in LCD television screens and computer monitors). Today, even the humblest of automobiles can house an array of electronics and gadgetry. For example, the satnav getting you from A to B (hopefully) may depend on a lithium-ion battery and have touch-screen capability utilizing indium. The car itself might even be a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) or ��� admittedly still unlikely ��� a purely electric vehicle. Here the lithiumion battery is an essential component. While the uptake of these vehicles might 8 www.resourceworld.com not be as rapid as some suggest, it is certainly growing steadily, particularly in urban areas. Electric- or HEV-based public transport should also be considered; in a small but illustrative example, the city of Helsinki announced in December that it will introduce 100 electric buses and 350 hybrid buses by 2018, if current testing proves successful. It takes little imagination to foresee old city bus fleets across the globe being replaced. What works with buses can very well be applied to shorter-range delivery vehicles and trucks. Meanwhile, vanadium has also been in the spotlight as of late. Most people, when thinking of vanadium, would point to the role of ferrovanadium as an alloying agent to bolster steel���s strength. But vanadium has other uses, including its application in fuel cells, a development that has certainly piqued the US government���s interest. As an aside, Barack Obama once said ���vanadium redox fuel cells��� is one of the coolest things I���ve ever said out loud.��� There is also an acknowledgement, particularly in the defence sector, that secure and alternative supply sources (preferably domestic) need to be developed as almost all vanadium production is based in China, Russia and South Africa. But while the fortunes of lithium, vanadium, and indium are bright, it is also worth remembering that for every application, a replacement material can often be waiting in the wings. For example, touchscreen technology is now being developed utilizing carbon nanotubes and low-cost polymers rather than indium. A long-term investor ignores at their peril the march of new technology, new developments and the potential impact this can have on upstream producers. LITHIUM Ashburton Ventures Inc. [ABR-TSXV] holds the Teels Marsh lithium project near Clayton Valley, Nevada. Assay results of MARCH 2013