Nano One Materials Corp (TSX:NANO, OTC:NNOMF) has told investors that initial engineering plans for its first full-scale commercial plant are nearing completion after it expedited lithium iron phosphate (LFP) trials, One-Pot factors, sampling and pilot production plans.
In a statement, the company also announced six new patents in Canada, the US and Japan that it said will significantly enhance its global portfolio of intellectual property (IP).
"We are doing One-Pot LFP trials in Nano One's Candiac facility and we have been producing tonne-sized batches successfully in the existing commercial-scale equipment for a few months now,” Nano One chief commercialization officer Denis Geoffroy said in a statement.
“In parallel, we are installing smaller modular One-Pot reactors, engineered and built in Québec, so that we can also do smaller trials, evaluate new reactor designs and fast track our plans.”
The company noted that it is on budget, on time and on target to have its first 200 tonnes of capacity commissioned by the end of the third quarter of 2023, producing samples for third-party commercial evaluation, with volumes up to 2000 tonnes, to follow in 2024.
“Each milestone increases project certainty, instills confidence in our future customers, and advances our commercialization journey,” Geoffroy added.
The company explained that it is trialing the supply of critical minerals and raw material inputs in large batches, providing it with greater certainty of feedstock quality and full-scale operating conditions. The new reactors will be automated with feeding and dosing systems to ensure consistent quality and reproducibility of LFP samples, it added.
It said it aims to demonstrate scalability and production for third-party qualification aimed at securing offtake agreements and first revenues with its partners, which could clear a path for rapid commercial scale-up.
Additional patents
The six new patents take Nano One’s global total to 33 and the company said it continues to expand the Canadian IP landscape, while growing economic activity, with the support of Government of Canada programs.
Among its focus areas, the company listed: high nickel cathode materials for improved battery performance; its proprietary process of cathode manufacturing; One-Pot sulfate-free process for the formation of LFP cathode materials; and the manganese stabilization technology which is particularly important in spinel-based cathode materials such as high voltage spinel (HVS).
Chief technology officer Dr Stephen Campbell commented: ”Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Nano One and with the issuance of so many additional patents, each central to our value proposition, our hard-working team continues to demonstrate its technology leadership and has added significant value to Nano One's portfolio of intellectual property, trusted shareholders, government supporters and valued strategic partners.”
Nano One Materials is a clean technology company with a patented, scalable and low-carbon intensity industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials.
With strategic collaborations and partnerships, including automotive OEMs and strategic industry supply chain companies like BASF, Umicore and Rio Tinto. Nano One's technology is applicable to electric vehicles, energy storage, and consumer electronics, reducing costs and carbon intensity while improving environmental impact.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com