Career Battery Recycling Expert to Lead Neometals Recycling
6 October 2023, Innovative battery materials recycler, Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT & AIM: NMT) (“Neometals” or “the Company”), is pleased to announce the appointment of career electric vehicle and battery recycling expert, Christian Reiche (M.Sc., B.Sc.) to lead Neometals’ lithium-ion battery (“LiB”) recycling activities.
Mr. Reiche has a unique skill set and extensive experience exclusively derived from the automotive technology, LiB, and LiB recycling sector. Over the course of his 20-year career, he has been actively engaged in pioneering automotive electrification and battery recycling initiatives for Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. Moreover, Mr. Reiche has developed a deep understanding of battery raw materials projects on a global scale, collaborating with various stakeholders across the entire battery value chain.
Neometals Managing Director Chris Reed said:
“Given the nascent nature of integrated LiB recycling, there is understandably a small pool of executives with deep OEM experience in and around the battery recycling sector. We are delighted to welcome Christian on board; he is a subject matter expert who started his career as an automotive electrician, became an automotive engineer, headed Mercedes-Benz’s first EV project and also headed recycling for VW.”
Authorised on behalf of Neometals by Christopher Reed, Managing Director.
ENDS
For further information, please contact
Chris Reed
Managing Director
T +61 8 9322 1182
Jeremy McManus
General Manager, IR and IP
T +61 8 9322 1182
About Neometals Inc.
Neometals has developed and is commercialising three environmentally-friendly processing technologies that produce critical and strategic battery materials at lowest quartile costs with minimal carbon footprint.
Through strong industry partnerships, Neometals is demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of sustainably producing lithium, nickel, cobalt and vanadium from lithium-ion battery recycling and steel waste recovery. This reduces the reliance on traditional mine-based supply chains and creating more resilient, circular supply chains to support the energy transition.
The Company’s three core business units are exploiting the technologies under principal, joint venture and licensing business models:
- Lithium-ion Battery (“LiB”) Recycling (50% technology) – Commercialisation via Primobius GmbH JV (NMT 50% equity). All plants built by Primobius’ co-owner (SMS group 50% equity), a 150-year-old German plant builder. Providing recycling service as principal in Germany and commenced plant supply and licensing activities as technology partner to Mercedes-Benz. Primobius targeting first commercial 50tpd plant offer to Canadian company Stelco in the DecQ 2023;
- Lithium Chemicals (70% technology) – Commercialising patented ELi™ electrolysis process, co-owned 30% by Mineral Resources Ltd, to produce battery quality lithium hydroxide from brine and/or hard-rock feedstocks at lowest quartile operating costs. Co-funding Pilot Plant trials in 2023 with planned Demonstration Plant trials and evaluation studies in 2024 for potential 25,000tpa LiOH operation in Portugal under a 50:50 JV with related entity to Bondalti, Portugal’s largest chemical company; and
- Vanadium Recovery (100% technology) – aiming to produce high-purity vanadium pentoxide from processing of steelmaking by-product (“Slag”) at lowest-quartile operating cost. Investment decision with JV partner, Critical Metals pending on planned 9,000tpa vanadium pentoxide operation in Pori, Finland (NMT 72.5% equity). Feedstock sourced under 10-year conditional Slag supply agreement with SSAB and product offtake agreement with Glencore. MOU with H2Green Steel for potential second, larger operation in Boden, Sweden.
