Neometals gets greenlight for lithium battery recycling plant

Neometals looks to be wading deeper into the lucrative lithium-ion battery recycling sector after its joint venture partner Primobius secured an operating permit for its 10 tonne per day shredding facility in Hilchenbach, Germany.

With the rubber stamp to kick off operations, the company will now look to collect and stockpile electric vehicle battery modules from its disposal service clients ahead of its commercial launch in May.

Perth-based Neometals and German plant maker SMS Group joined forces two years ago to form Primobius. The venture is aimed at developing and commercialising an environmentally sustainable process for lithium-ion battery recycling.

Metal electrodes, plastic separators and casings are removed from spent batteries at the recycling plant, that then produces battery cathode and anode materials for refining. 

The facility includes a fully-constructed 'front-end' shredding and beneficiation circuit as well as a fully operational 'back-end' hydrometallurgical refining circuit.

Interestingly, the factory features three different refining circuits for nickel, cobalt and lithium extraction.

According to management, the shredding plant will provide an immediate cash boost whilst also validating the operational capabilities of a facility that is one fifth the size of traditional large-footprint commercial assets.

Primobius is currently crunching the numbers on an engineering cost study for an initial 50 tonnes per day operation with a mid-year completion date in sight.

The company previously indicated the intermediate active material created in stage 1 of the hydrometallurgical refinery, known as ‘black mass’, had been successfully leached and purified with individual sulphate solutions of copper, manganese, cobalt, nickel and lithium subsequently recovered.

German-based Primobius says it will now look to deliver its black mass product to a local metal recycler next week.

Primobius is also aiming to allocate bulk samples from its commercial operations to a string of companies with the intention of assessing loftier, longer-term offtake agreements.

The company contends the sale of its black mass product will remain its number one priority over planned hydrometallurgical refinement activities until its processing pipeline has been completed and commissioned.

A recent study by leading consultancy Deloitte suggested the electric vehicle sector is expected to grow at an annual compound growth rate of about 30 per cent during the next 10 years or so and Neometal’s latest activities appear to be pointed at feeding the global demand for battery metals through an alternative source to mining.

As global uptake in electric vehicles continues to trend higher amidst a market hungry for clean energy solutions Neometals’ efforts to commercialise its battery recycling plant in Germany could position the company at the forefront of a rapidly emerging industry.

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