Perth-based Neometals says its indirectly-owned subsidiary Novana Oy and Glencore International have penned an offtake agreement to lock in the exclusive sale of battery metal vanadium for five years.
Swiss commodity trader Glencore will buy all high-purity product, as vanadium pentoxide, sourced from Novana’s vanadium recovery project (VRP), which refines waste from Finnish steelmaking. Management says the offtake agreement will start in January, 2026 and it will be extended in two-year increments from 2031, unless the parties elect not to renew their deal.
Neometals holds a 72.5 per cent interest in Novana, alongside Critical Minerals. The company’s 100 per cent-owned subsidiary, Recycling Industries Scandinavia AB, owns the VRP.
Glencore is a global operator with deep vanadium operating experience and will continue to provide technical guidance to Recycling Industries Scandinavia AB throughout the initial phase of the VRP, which is expected to reach a final investment decision this quarter. The project is a key element in Neometals’ move to commercialise low-carbon, low-cost “green” battery metal recovery technologies, representing a move away from mining the rare metal.
The VRP will be fed by vanadium-bearing steelmaking waste, or slag, obtained from Swedish steel producer SSAB, which is operating in the town of Pori on Finland’s west coast. SSAB has agreed to provide the VRP with its slag for 10 years.
To extend the life of the project, Neometals has entered into an agreement with Swedish company H2Green Steel for up to 4 million tonnes of its vanadium-bearing slag, underpinning a potential second long-term operation in the municipality of Boden.
Neometals managing director Chris Reed said: “Securing take or pay offtake for 100% of VRP1 vanadium products represents a significant milestone as we progress towards a FID this quarter. Removing volume risk on offtake is seen as a key requirement for securing project finance and we have mitigated this risk with the take or pay nature of our Offtake Agreement with a Tier 1 counterparty in Glencore. The Offtake Agreement further emphasises the anticipated future need for high purity material in the market. This is supported by significant expected demand from the vanadium redox flow battery sector and other potential high purity applications.”
Traditionally, vanaduim has been used to strengthen steel. It is now used as a component in rechargable flow batteries tasked with storing large amounts of power, typically from renewable energy sources, and is widely viewed as an up-and-coming industrial solution for renewable energy providers looking to scale up operations.
The safe, non–flammable and stable chemistry of the vanadium electrolyte – the lifeblood of the battery – creates a far lower risk profile than other battery storage technologies, making the batteries self-contained and transportable.
Evergy is stored within the vanadium electolytle solution which never degrades, even under continuous maximum power and depth of discharge cycling. The batteries have no limit on charge capacity and can remain discharged indefinitely without damage.
In addition to making strong steel alloys and batteries, vanadium can be used in treatments for medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol. It has also been used in the cathodes of batteries for implantable defibrillators.
With Neometals entering the battery-metal recycling space with today’s huge deal involving a global superpower in Glencore, the market will be no doubt be watching this space as the final investment decision for the VRP looms.
The Australian market seemed to like today’s news, as Neometals’ share price jumped 11 per cent on triple the usual recent trading volume.
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By Andrew Duffy
