OAKLAND, Calif., October 12, 2022 — Lilac Solutions, a lithium extraction technology company, announced today the completion of a significant expansion of its leadership ranks, including the addition of former senior executives from FLSmidth, Fluor, Albemarle, Solvay and Celanese.

Lilac has developed a groundbreaking ion exchange technology to increase production of lithium from brine resources with minimal environmental impact and streamlined project development timelines. Electric vehicle producers are facing sustained record-high prices and long-term shortages of lithium raw materials as conventional technologies for lithium production fail to keep pace with demand.

In October 2021, Lilac announced its $150 million Series B financing round, led by Lowercarbon Capital and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., with participation from SK Materials, Presidio Ventures (a Sumitomo Corporation Group Company), Mercuria Energy Trading, BMW i Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and The Engine.

Since then, the company has grown significantly, quadrupling headcount to more than 120 employees and expanding internationally. This growth includes the following key additions to Lilac’s leadership team:

• Bart Packer – Executive Vice President, Brine

Bart has over 25 years of international management experience in the chemicals and mining sectors. Most recently, Bart spent over 10 years at FLSmidth, serving multiple roles including Global Director of Project Management where he oversaw approximately 150 projects around the globe and Head of the EPC Project Directors Group, which included turn-key projects with capital investments in excess of US$ 1 billion.

• Matt McCall – Executive Vice President, Bead Manufacturing

A former Lieutenant Commander and nuclear engineering officer in the United States Navy, Matt has over 26 years of experience in manufacturing and operations leadership. Most recently, Matt served as Operations Director at Celanese’s Clear Lake site leading six plants, including the largest acetic acid and vinyl acetate plants in the world.

• Doug Barbe – Vice President of Operations, Brine

Doug has over 30 years of experience in chemical and manufacturing operations. Doug previously served as Vice President of Operations for Albemarle’s lithium division, including its South American lithium operations. Most recently, Doug served as AkzoNobel’s Manufacturing Director for the Americas.

• Mark Mulligan – Vice President of Engineering, Brine

Mark has over 20 years of experience in process engineering and technology, and is a subject matter expert in lithium extraction from brine resources. For the past several years, Mark has served as Vice President and Global Director of Process Engineering for FLSmidth’s Minerals Division.

• Jerry Sullivan – Vice President of Technology, Bead Manufacturing

Jerry has over 30 years of experience in the chemicals industry, including significant work on large capital projects around the globe. Most recently, Jerry served as Director of Manufacturing Technology for Solvay, managing its Process Development and Operations Technology divisions.

• David Alt – Vice President of Engineering, Lithium

David has over 27 years of experience in the mining, chemicals, and oil & gas sectors. Most recently, David was an Executive Project Director at Fluor, where he executed mega-scale projects in Asia, Europe, Canada and the United States. With a background in chemical engineering, David has executed novel technology development projects and licensing projects in specialty chemicals, polymers and petrochemicals – including the scale-up and commissioning phases of numerous projects.

• Gnanika Wijayaratne – Vice President, People

Gnanika has over 20 years of experience delivering Human Resource Strategy and People leadership globally, spanning the oil & gas, retail, technology, medical device, and biotech sectors, including deep expertise in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Lilac, Gnanika held various senior leadership roles, including Head of HR for the BNANO Group and Bruker Corp., and Chief People Officer of Natus Medical Inc.

• Peter Ajayi – Vice President, Deputy General Counsel

Peter has over 9 years of experience advising innovative companies on complex, high-stakes legal transactions, including 7 years in the New York and Paris offices of a top international law firm. Prior to Lilac, Peter was Senior Corporate Counsel at Marqeta, a financial technology company, where he guided the company on important strategic matters, including Marqeta’s public listing on the Nasdaq.

“With these new hires, Lilac is in a great position to execute on our vision for lithium production in collaboration with resource owners around the world,” said Dave Snydacker, Lilac’s CEO. “Over the last five years, our innovation teams have successfully developed a technology package that delivers the highest standards of performance, reliability, modularity, and sustainability. We’re excited to complement our technical excellence with a seasoned leadership team that has the deep experience in manufacturing, project execution, and operations to succeed at a global scale.”