Aqua Metals, Inc., a leading innovator in lead battery metal recycling with its AquaRefining™ technology, is expanding into lithium-ion battery recycling by investing in LINICO Corporation. Previously, the Company and LiNiCo reached a lease-to-buy agreement for the Aqua Metals’ AquaRefining facility. Aqua Metals has committed a $2 million investment, paid in Aqua Metals shares, for a 10% ownership in LiNiCo, as part of its strategy to strengthen growth by potentially applying AquaRefining™ intellectual property to lithium-ion battery recycling while meeting its lead recycling commercial guidance.
Aqua Metals and three other innovative companies plan to form an eco-network that intends to advance best-in-class technologies to recycle lithium-ion batteries at volume, both economically and sustainably. The other proposed members of the network include Green Li-ion, Pte, Ltd., whose mission is to create a lithium-ion battery recycling technology designed to uniquely generate high-purity, high-value cathode ready material; LiNiCo, a newly capitalized cleantech aggregator focused on closed-loop lithium-ion battery recycling; and Comstock Mining Inc., which is engaged in the systemic valorization of critical metals and announced its majority investment in LiNiCo. LiNiCo is an investor in Green Li-ion, providing Aqua Metals with an indirect investment in Green Li-ion.
“We are very pleased to work with Aqua Metals through our lease-to-buy agreement for the McCarran recycling facility, Aqua Metals’ investment in LiNiCo, and our participation in the eco-network,” said Michael Vogel, President, CEO and Founder of LiNiCo. “The shift to a sustainable clean energy economy is a global imperative, and our goal is to ensure that the recycling piece of the equation doesn’t undermine the positive potential of sustainable clean energy systems and storage. The eco-network envisions pooling resources and adopting complementary technologies to address the challenge of building a closed-loop sustainable clean energy economy.”
“We believe a collaboration strategy with innovative companies that have multi-disciplinary backgrounds in metals, mining, high volume throughput, and hydrometallurgy is the best approach to solving the sustainability challenge of metals recycling, especially with lithium-ion batteries. Forming an eco-network is an important step in our strategy for exploring the expansion of AquaRefining technology to other applications,” said Steve Cotton, President and CEO of Aqua Metals. “According to Yole Développement, there will be about 705,000 tons of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries by 2025, and by 2040 they will hit 9 million tons per year. Aqua Metals recognizes this opportunity and intends to apply the same capital light business model we are employing for lead recycling to the challenge of lithium-ion recycling by developing an offering of equipment supply, services, and licensing to lithium-ion battery recyclers globally. Our expertise in hydrometallurgical lead recycling will continue to be the foundation of our strategy to further commercialize AquaRefining technologies.”