Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT) has successfully commissioned stage 1 of its lithium‐ion battery (LIB) recycling pilot plant at the SGS Lakefield facility in Canada.
The facility is recognised worldwide for housing pre‐eminent expertise in the development, optimisation and piloting of mineral processing and chemical extraction processes.
Stage 1 refers to front-end preparation which includes shredding, removal of metal casings and plastics and stage 2 will feature hydrometallurgical processing and refining.
The plant aims to deliver high-purity battery materials for market qualification.
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Neometals’ managing director Chris Reed said: “We are delighted to see our battery recycling project back on track.
“The commissioning of the pilot represents a significant milestone and marks the culmination of extensive research and development into a flow sheet to process multiple battery chemistries, from consumer electronics to electric vehicle applications.
“With ever-increasing volumes of commercial LIBs reaching their end of life, we are focussed on proving at scale, then qualifying our scale‐able and modular recycling solution with industry as early as possible.
“The pilot will serve as a showcase facility for potential partners as well as provide strong independent data for future engineering and financial studies.”
Indicative timeline for the Neometals LIB recycling program
A FEED study is planned to follow the pilot plant work and precede an economic feasibility study to give Neometals a commercial handle on 80% of costs at an early development stage.
Having commercially relevant data to commence commercial discussions is seen as the most prudent approach with potential partners.