Aqua Metals Advances Sierra-ARC Lithium Battery Recycling Campus and Secures Offtake Partnership; Reports Full-Year 2023 Financial Results

RENO, Nev., March 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS), a pioneer in sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, today reported financial results for the full-year ended December 31, 2023.

Full-Year 2023 Financial and Recent Operational Highlights

Operational

• Established a platform for commercial production by successfully commissioning the Li AquaRefining pilot plant and operating the plant for over one year including 24-hour/five-day per week operations at the Company’s Innovation Center, with the recovery of lithium hydroxide and carbonate, nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese dioxide, and de-risking through pilot operations.
• Completed an engineering report that included a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of Li AquaRefining through ICF, an internationally recognized third party, showing an 83% reduction in CO₂ emissions versus standard hydrometallurgy processes.
• Acquired a five-acre parcel in Tahoe-Reno and materially completed major upfit of the existing building to advance Phase 1 of the Sierra AquaRefining Campus (ARC) on time and within budget with commissioning beginning this summer and commercial production commencing this year with expected financing.
  

Commercial

• Advanced its ongoing strategic partnership with 6K Energy and signed a multi-part memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding plans for co-located facilities to build the first circular supply chain of critical minerals for lithium battery production in the US, that follows the successful completion of the non-recurring engineering agreement (NRE) where Aqua Metals developed novel and patent-pending metals to pCAM (precursor cathode active material) technology for 6K.
• As announced yesterday, executed a supply agreement between Aqua Metals and 6K Energy, representing a first-of-its-kind collaboration designed to address the escalating demand for recycling Li-ion batteries by offering manufacturers access to low-cost, low-carbon, domestically produced critical materials.
• Supplied Dragonfly Energy with battery-grade, sustainably recycled lithium hydroxide, which was used to manufacture and successfully cycle-tested lithium-based battery cell.