Aqua Metals Commences AquaRefining Equipment Shipments to its First Asia Pacific Licensee, ACME Metal

Install and Commissioning to Commence in Q1, 2022

RENO, Nev., Jan. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) ("Aqua Metals" or the "Company"), a leading innovator in metals recycling with its AquaRefining technology, has commenced Aqualyzer equipment shipments to ACME Metal, the world’s first licensed AquaRefining facility. These shipments, both from the U.S. and from in-country equipment suppliers the company has established in Taiwan, will support the previously announced plan to install and commission the AquaRefining facility in early 2022. The facility will produce ultrapure AquaRefined briquettes for ACME Metal’s Asia Pacific-based global battery manufacturing customers to develop a direct to battery-grade oxide production process. This will bring the AquaRefining process one step closer to streamlining the link between battery recycling and new battery manufacturing by eliminating the economic and environmental costs of manufacturing ingots from the recycling process.

“We have finalized the Phase 1 deployment plans and begun the transition from design and shipments to execution and commissioning of the Phase 1 deployment at ACME Metal, where our Aqua Metals team will supervise the installation, provide commissioning and training, and handover ongoing operations of the Phase 1 implementation to ACME by Q2 2022,” said Ben Taecker, Chief Engineering and Operations Officer, Aqua Metal. “We will also finalize the details for the Phase 2 scale-up planned to take place later in 2022.”

“Aqua Metals is proud of our progress with the commercial rollout of our 3^rd generation AquaRefining solution for lead recycling. Our team and the ACME team have worked tirelessly to drive this project forward to create a truly innovative showcase of the first AquaRefining operation in the APAC region,” said Steve Cotton, President and CEO of Aqua Metals. “Our sales pipeline continues to mature, and we look forward to announcing further momentum on our efforts as we expand our markets. We are also expediting our development of AquaRefining for lithium-ion batteries so that this rapidly growing industry can utilize the clean, low emissions, low waste, and safe working environmental advantages of our innovative technology. A clean recycling process for the coming tsunami of lithium-ion batteries will enable the industry to recover the critical minerals in these batteries while making a direct, positive impact on confronting global climate change.”