Neometals’ (ASX:NMT) equally owned joint venture (JV) party Primobius GmbH has received a €18.8 million purchase order (PO) from Mercedes-Benz Group (ETR:MBG).
Neometals, which has a $112.08 million market capitalisation, says the order is to supply a hydrometallurgical refining Hub for installation at Mercedes’ Kuppenheim Operation in Germany.
The PO was awarded as part of a cooperation arrangement between Primobius and Mercedes.
Under the cooperation, Primobius is responsible for the engineering, equipment supply, and installation for a 2,500 tonne per annum (tpa) fully-integrated, closed loop Mercedes lithium battery (LiB) Recycling Pilot Plant.
According to Neometals, the Hub is designed to match the capacity required to process intermediate feed material generated from the front-end refining Spoke and marks the automotive company’s entry into the field of LiB recycling.
Neometals notes Primobius has begun the installation of the Spoke plant equipment and is set to begin fabrication of the Hub equipment supply package.
Primobius is a 50:50 JV between Neometals and privately held German global plant manufacturer SMS Group and is focused on the development of sustainable processes for the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion batteries.
Primobius is to commercialise advanced recycling technology, offering a unique and sustainable method for recovering valuable lithium, nickel, cobalt and other materials from expended and scrap electric vehicles and consumer electronics LiBs. Recovered and refined product materials will be reformed and re-applied back into the battery supply chain.
Neometals Managing Director Chris Reed says its relationship with Mercedes exemplifies some of the unique aspects to Primobius’ business model.
“The relationship exemplifies some of the unique aspects to Primobius’ business model. One of these is the ability to supply plant and offer technology licences so OEMs can retain their battery materials from scrap and end-of-life batteries. Supply certainty, low operating costs and low carbon footprint are key value drivers for OEMs looking forward. Our measured approach to delivering scalable solutions with our partner and leading plant builder SMS augurs well for penetrating this enormous addressable market.“
“We see ourselves as enablers of sustainable outcomes, for all stakeholders in the value chain. We are bridging the gap between industries wanting to put used batteries back into circulation and those that want to make new lithium-ion batteries“
Michel Siemon, Primobius CEO adds the joint project shows that the company has developed the right solution for the market and underlines its ability to supply plant and offer technology licenses to OEMs to retain their battery materials from scrap and end-of-life batteries.
“We see ourselves as enablers of sustainable outcomes, for all stakeholders in the value chain. We are bridging the gap between industries wanting to put used batteries back into circulation and those that want to make new lithium-ion batteries. We are proud to partner with Mercedes in its journey to lead the closed-loop recycling of lithium batteries.”
Neometals is an ASX-listed battery metals recycler that has developed and is commercialising 3 environmentally friendly processing technologies that produce critical and strategic battery materials at the lowest quartile costs with minimal carbon footprint.
As of 30 September 2023, Neometals had $14.239 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Neometals
