Diaspora NZ with David Booth S2 | E11 — Clint Van Marrewijk (Zelandez, SaferMe) ‘drills down’ on mining South American lithium to drive us into the future and how his safety software company pivoted to enjoy massive growth.
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Clint Van Marrewijk (pronounced Marra-vick) is director and co-founder of Zelandez, a leading lithium brine technology company building cutting edge sensors and production plants for lithium brine mining operations in the ‘Lithium Triangle’ of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, as well as the USA and Canada. It’s a long way from the Waihi dairy farm on which he grew up before undertaking a mechanical engineering degree then moving to Colorado and setting up a Kiwisaver scheme.
If you don’t know why people get so excited about lithium, it’s because lithium ion rechargeable batteries are cleaner, greener, more powerful and longer-lasting than most other battery options. This is why lithium ion is the battery of choice for many of the world’s top ten biggest companies, including Apple, Google and Tesla- and why the lithium battery market it worth USD 54.4 billion.
Clint has been running Zelandez from Austin, Texas since his Kiwi-founded safety software company, SaferMe, entered the American market in 2019, having gone from strength to strength - including huge growth with its workplace sign-in and tracking tools, which were massively in demand during the recent COVID pandemic, spurring huge growth.
Today Clint talks about SaferMe’s journey, explains how the services Zelandez offers leave less of a toll on the environment and better lithium yield, and Clint gives advice for young people who want their career to take them from Christchurch to Colorado to the Lithium Triangle and beyond.
In today's episode, we discuss:
* Using oil and gas extraction techniques to get lithium brine out of the ground to help create the lithium-based batteries so many of our electric cars and digital devices rely on
* The history of lithium use in batteries - who pioneered it, who has under-valued it, and how lithium is ready to be hugely valued as a commodity.
* Advice on the right age to transition into an energy/minerals career.
* How a degree in engineering led to working in investment analysis for Kiwi Wealth before Clint moved into SaaS startups.
* How Clint’s bank managers reacted when they saw how much he was investing in lithium extraction technology.
* How SaferMe pivoted during the pandemic to sell contact tracing tools - backed by the NZ government - which could have resulted in up to 20x company growth.
* Getting a business deal with a Fortune 500 CEO through a LinkedIn “spam note”
* Fallacies in New Zealand’s thinking about the best way to provide the cleanest electricity for the national grid.
Referenced:
* Zealandez: https://www.zelandez.com/
* SaferMe: https://www.safer.me/
* The Lithium Triangle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_Triangle
* Best practices for reinjecting brine during lithium extraction: https://www.zelandez.com/news/the-lithium-brine-industry-must-share-reinjection-best-practices/
Where to find Clint van Marrewijk:
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