Technology Minerals PLC (LSE:TM1) said that it has agreed £5.5 million of funding via a convertible bond facility and that Recyclus, its 48% owned battery recycling business, has signed a technology partnership to help it extract critical metals from spent lithium-ion batteries.
Chief executive Alex Stanbury said: “The funds from the facility will provide us with sufficient capital to progress the acquisition of Recyclus, and to ramp up operations at our lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Wolverhampton."
The facility has been agreed with Atlas Capital Markets with a coupon of 5% per annum over Bank of England base rate. It will be drawn down in five tranches, the first £1.5 million of which is underway, followed by four of £1 million as required.
It replaces an earlier agreement with CLG Capital, where the lender failed to provide the total amount drawn down. Technology Minerals said it is terminating this arrangement, is in talks about resolving the issue with the first drawdown and will not seek to access any more funds from it.
Meanwhile, it said Recyclus has signed a memorandum of understanding with a cleantech company that has developed a low carbon technology capable of processing the black mass created at its Li-ion battery recycling plants. It hopes this collaboration will be operational within the next 18 months.
Black mass generated by Recyclus can then be further refined through the “innovative, low-carbon and scalable chemistry-based technology”, it said, into precursor cathode active materials adaptable for any li-ion battery manufacturer.
Recyclus is said to have chosen this technology collaboration after two years of assessing the full gamut of those available in black mass refining, “as the process is significantly more advanced that existing hydromet processes, and in turn will result in higher grade material recovery”.
Scientific director Anwar Sattar said the MoU “has the potential to revolutionise how critical metals are extracted from spent Li-ion batteries in the UK, providing a new source for minerals essential in the race towards electrification” and provide “additional scientific advancements toward the establishment of a circular economy within the UK”.
The Recyclus industrial scale Li-ion recycling plant in Wolverhampton is said to be building production volumes towards its permitted 22,000 tonnes of batteries per year. The aim to process 8,300 in its first full year of production on a single shift.
Robin Brundle, director and co-founder of Recyclus, said: “This collaboration aligns with the Government's goal of minimising the UK's carbon footprint whilst potentially supplying up to 30% of the raw materials for future UK battery manufacturers."