Aqua Metals reports Q2 results

Battery recycler Aqua Metals Inc., Reno, Nevada, has announced financial results and operational highlights for the second quarter ending June 30.

Among its financial initiatives, the company completed the $4.3 million sale of the Sierra ARC facility in Nevada and sold $200,000 in non-core equipment and eliminated all long-term debt. Additionally, the company’s cash and cash equivalents increased from $1.6 million at the start of the quarter to more than $1.9 million by June 30.

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The company noted several milestones, including receiving a foundational U.S. patent protecting its lithium-ion battery recycling process and the appointment of former Vice President of Finance Eric West to the role of chief financial officer.

Operationally, Aqua Metals:

• Reduced fluorine content in lithium carbonate to less than 30 parts per million, meeting the stringent specifications of cathode active material (CAM) producers. Approximately 100 kilograms of this material have been produced and are being sampled by “strategic counterparties,” the company says.
• Produced more than 1 metric ton of nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) mixed hydroxide cake for qualification sampling with potential partners.
• Explored undersea mining nodules as a potential feedstock and successfully tested nickel refinery residue as an additional potential feedstock.
• Began testing a sodium sulfate regeneration process designed to support precursor cathode active material (pCAM) producers by recycling the sodium sulfate they produce into chemicals they can use in their production process.
• Started the design of a scalable AquaRefining Commercial (ARC) facility capable of processing 10,000-60,000 metric tons per year of black mass.
• Conducted an internal study it claims showed AquaRefining in the U.S. is cost-competitive with Chinese hydrometallurgical recycling and operates at approximately half the cost of traditional U.S. hydrometallurgical methods.

Aqua Metals says it continues discussions with potential strategic partners and believes collaboration among industry participants is critical as the U.S. builds domestic battery recycling and CAM production capacity.

“Our industry has endured significant challenges over the past year as the global battery supply chain recalibrates,” Aqua Metals President and CEO Steve Cotton says. “These challenges also present a rare moment for leaders to step forward and work together. Our business model is built on collaboration—with suppliers, recyclers, technology innovators and CAM producers—to help establish a fully domestic, commercially viable recycling and critical minerals ecosystem in the United States.

“We believe this quarter’s achievements, from delivering some of the lowest-fluorine lithium carbonate ever produced to demonstrating cost parity with Chinese recyclers, position Aqua Metals not just to participate in the emerging U.S. market, but to help define it.”

The company says it believes the elimination of long-term debt, extended cash runway and progress on a scalable ARC facility design provides a clear path toward commercialization.