Australian Lithium Company Neometals Enters The Recycling Lithium-ion Battery Industry

Australian lithium company Neometals has signed an agreement with SMS Group GmbH, a German metallurgical equipment supplier, to establish a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion batteries. SMS will acquire a 50% stake in Neometals' wholly-owned subsidiary, and the two parties will jointly contribute 500,000 Euros (A$830,000).

It is reported that Neometals, an Australian lithium company, has signed an agreement with SMS Group GmbH, a German metallurgical equipment supplier, to establish a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion batteries. The joint venture, called Primobius GmbH, will use Neometals recycling technology to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and other materials from waste electric vehicles and consumer electronics.

Neometals owns battery recycling technology through its wholly-owned subsidiary and has granted a limited license to conduct evaluation activities to the joint venture Primobius. Neometals and SMS will jointly fund these activities, including the construction and operation of demonstration plants and the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) Level 3 feasibility study. The total value of the assessment activities is approximately 3.5 million Euros (A$5.78 million).

If certain technical and economic criteria are met, SMS will obtain a 50% stake in Neometals’ wholly-owned subsidiary, and the two parties will jointly fund business activities worth 500,000 Euros (A$830,000) to consider initial business investment decisions. Large-scale recycling plant.