Itronics Inc. reported it has begun development and successfully tested an electrowinning technology to produce pure zinc metal. The process was begun in January using a laboratory scale electrowinning cell developed by the Company. Currently small amounts of zinc metal are being produced while the operating parameters are being developed. The Company plans to expand zinc output in stages starting at laboratory scale and expanding to pilot scale at the Company's 35,000 square foot Reno, Nevada manufacturing and research and development facility. The Company already owns equipment needed, it is on site and can be put into operation with only minor modifications. The zinc bearing liquid (Pregnant Leach Solution, called PLS) fed to the electrowinning cell is produced by recovering zinc from flue dust produced by a brass/bronze manufacturer. The residuals from the leaching process contain measurable amounts of silver and gold which will be used as feed materials for the Company's "Breakthrough" computer printed circuit board assembly (E-Scrap) refining operation which is currently producing silver bullion and silver-bearing glass. Processing zinc bearing flue dust is in the Company's portfolio of "Zero Waste Energy Saving" technologies that are being prepared for expansion to commercial scale. Activating this technology development starts the process of establishing the ability to produce pure metals using electrochemistry and opens the door to processing alkaline battery paste which contains zinc, manganese, and potassium. Some of the new EV battery technologies use manganese, one of the four most important battery metals, and this technology development could enable the Company to process Electric Vehicle (EV) battery pastes in the future. In addition to silver and gold, the Company's Rock Kleen technology has shown the ability to recover the battery metals nickel, manganese, and zinc from silver/gold mine leach tailings, which will be separated and recovered using electrochemistry.