Aqua Metals, Inc. announced it has successfully recovered high-purity nickel from lithium battery black mass using Aqua Metals' proprietary Li AquaRefining™ process, utilizing electricity, and without a polluting smelter or the significant chemical waste typical in recycling. The Company's unique solution for recovering all valuable metals in lithium battery recycling supports a circular supply chain for manufacturing, and positions Aqua Metals to play an important role in meeting the growing demand for sustainably produced domestic metals. Aqua Metals' Li AquaRefining™ technology recovers nickel and other valuable metals using an innovative application of electroplating in a closed-loop, eliminating the need for energy-intensive and wasteful chemical processes that increase the cost and the resulting pollution of recycling.

Nickel is an essential resource in the global push for electrification and clean energy technologies, and often makes up a substantial portion of the cost in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems. Aqua Metals also recently announced recovery of high purity lithium hydroxide and copper from ‘black mass' at its operational pilot facility located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. Having already demonstrated successfully at both the lab and bench scales, the Aqua Metals' Li AquaRefining™ Pilot is now the only operational electro-hydrometallurgy lithium battery recycling facility in North America. Current commercial lithium battery recycling methods use an energy intensive smelting process that involves high temperatures, produces toxic fumes that must be mitigated, and is unable to recover usable lithium or manganese.

Proposed hydrometallurgy recycling consumes tons of hazardous chemicals, producing landfill waste and significant environmental impact from the production and transport of the one-time-use chemicals.