Novel application of proven technologies enables greener approach to

                             lithium extraction



    MENLO PARK and PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 11 /EMWNews/ -- Simbol

Mining, a company focused on the production of lithium and other commodity

metals using clean, zero waste production processes from brines and

effluent streams, today announced completion of its Series A round of

investment. The $6.7 million financing was led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures

and Firelake Capital. The funds will be used to complete development of

processes for lithium extraction.



    



    Lithium is a metal that is used in a wide variety of applications, and

most prominently in batteries, promising to be the key ingredient to

batteries for electric vehicles. The lithium carbonate market was

approximately $500M in 2007, and is forecasted to grow to at least $1.5B by

2015. Expected growth is attributed to growth in the use of Li-ion

batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles.



    "Simbol Mining promises to be the lowest cost producer of lithium in

the world with the added and significant benefit of doing so with a

cleaner, greener approach," said MDV General Partner Josh Green who will

take a board seat with the company. "The company leverages a strong

technical team from Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) using proven separation

technologies."



    The company was founded by Luka Erceg with a background in financial

transactions for power production and energy technology, and Scott Conley a

long-time process controls engineer with experience in large scale chemical

processing technologies. The idea for Simbol Mining came about in late 2006

while Erceg and Conley were pursuing their MBAs part-time at Rice

University. Erceg and Conley later enlisted as founders Drs. William

Bourcier, Carol Bruton, and Brian Viani, leading geochemists formerly of

the DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The company was singled

out in February 2008 by attendees of the Cleantech Network Forum XVI for

having the Most Promising Technology.



    "With the closure of this new financing we can complete development of

the processes needed to produce lithium from brines and effluent streams,

in an environmentally conscious manner," added Simbol CEO Erceg. "Although

lithium is our first metal, we see tremendous opportunity to apply our

technologies to the extraction of other metals."

    About Simbol Mining



    Simbol Mining Corp. is focused on the production of lithium and other

commodity metals using clean, zero waste production processes from brines

and effluent streams. Based on that proprietary cleantech process, the

company aims to become the leading provider of lithium carbonate, a key

component of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage technology.

For more information visit: http://www.simbolmining.com.



    About MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures



    MDV has been a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm for 25

years. The firm funds and mentors entrepreneurs, scientists and young

companies involved in redefining business, technology and medicine. MDV

invests around three major themes: Powering the Planet; Personalizing

Medicine; and Driving the Digital World. The firm partners with

entrepreneurs to transform the production, management and distribution of

energy and resources through technology innovation. Category-leading

companies funded by MDV include: Agile (ORCL); Brocade, Catilin; Energy

Innovations; Genomatica; Gordon Murray Design; hi5; Nanosolar; ONI Systems

(CIEN); OPX Biotechnologies; Pacific Biosciences; ParAllele (AFFX); and

ZeaChem. MDV has $2 billion dollars under management. For more information

visit http://www.mdv.com.



    About Firelake Capital Management



    Firelake Capital Management invests in early-stage venture companies

focused on cleantech and renewable energy. Firelake seeks "edge technology"

companies that have significant technological advances over the status quo.

Founded early in 2002, Firelake has over $350 million under management and

is located in downtown Palo Alto, California. For more information visit

http://www.firelakecapital.com.