LibertyStream: Building America’s Next Major Lithium Producer | CEO Alex Wylie I sat down with Alex Wylie, founder and CEO of LibertyStream ( $LIB.V / $VLTLF ), for a deep dive into the company and what they are building in the Permian Basin, Texas. LibertyStream has the potential to become one of the largest (if not THE largest) lithium producers in the U.S., with a model that could also make it one of the lowest-cost and fastest to scale. The idea behind LibertyStream is surprisingly simple: Oil & gas operators in Texas move enormous amounts of oil every day (~6 million barrels per day). And even greater amounts of produced water (~20 million barrels per day). That water contains lithium. Instead of building a new mine, Liberty plugs into existing oilfield water infrastructure, extracts the lithium, refines it on site, and returns the water. The lithium supply chain today is heavily dependent on China (especially for refining), creating a meaningful national security risk. Liberty is extracting and refining lithium right at the heart of the U.S.: Texas. They have the fastest time to market (conventional mines take multiple years), the lowest CAPEX, and a leading AISC (all-in sustaining cost). The company has come a long way in a short period of time. Since I first came across LibertyStream, one thing has consistently impressed me: their ability to execute. Every major milestone they have laid out has been achieved, and achieved on time: - Field extraction in 2024 - On-site refining in 2025 - Consistently produced battery-grade lithium carbonate for the past 3+ months - Partnership with Select Water Solutions - First commercial offtake signed - Secured up to $95M in project financing to fund commercial expansion - First 1,000-ton/year commercial unit now being built in Howard County, Texas I had the opportunity to visit their operations in Midland in June, which helped me understand how much of the infrastructure Liberty needs is already sitting there. That, to me, is what makes this story particularly interesting. They are not trying to recreate the lithium supply chain from scratch. They are trying to bolt lithium production onto an enormous existing oil & gas ecosystem. During the interview Alex went through the full story: the technology, Select partnership, unit economics, customer demand, project financing, permitting, competition, media manufacturing, scaling production, and what still needs to go right. There is still plenty to execute on. But if (when) Liberty proves that its first commercial unit works economically and repeatably, the opportunity gets very interesting very quickly. Hope the conversation helps anyone trying to understand the company. Timeline: 00:00 Introduction & LibertyStream overview 01:25 Alex Wylie: background & company origins 08:30 Technical challenges, pre-treatment & Select Water partnership 16:17 How the process works: extraction, refining & battery-grade lithium 23:35 U.S. lithium demand, customers & offtakes 27:37 Unit economics, project financing & funding growth 36:25 Freedom 1–4: scaling, repeatability & site expansion 42:00 In-house media, cost advantages & LibertyStream’s “secret sauce” 49:14 Customer qualification, contracts & proving commercial scale 53:13 Permitting, competition & first-mover advantage 59:45 Team, capital allocation & dilution 1:03:28 Scorecard: what to watch over the next 6–12 months Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are our own and are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Valora Investment Group LLC and accounts advised by the firm hold positions in LibertyStream.