Aqua Metals Submits Provisional Patent for New Capability Streamlining Link from AquaRefining to Battery Manufacturing
January 27 2021 - 8:00AM
Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”),
which is reinventing lead recycling with its AquaRefining™
technology, announced today that initial testing of a new
methodology for producing battery manufacturing ready active
material directly from the AquaRefining process has demonstrated
promising results. A provisional patent has been filed to protect
the new process, which is expected to provide added economic and
environmental benefits for AquaRefining licensees.
The active material, lead oxide, is the key
ingredient used in a battery and comprises over half of a battery’s
lead content. The traditional method utilized to produce oxide for
lead batteries is a four-step process: (1) smelting lead recovered
from used batteries or AquaRefining into lead briquettes; (2)
refining that lead to the proper purity; (3) casting the lead into
ingots and (4) remelting those ingots to be placed in an oxide
reactor for oxide manufacturing. Aqua Metals’ innovative approach
would help the $65 billion lead acid battery industry bypass steps
2 and 3 (refining and ingoting), resulting in significant savings
in time, money and emissions as the AquaRefined lead briquettes
would transition directly to the melting stage at the oxide
manufacturer.
“Because AquaRefining achieves such high purity
(currently 99.996+%), it provides the opportunity to bypass the
refining stage and take briquetted AquaRefined lead directly to the
battery manufacturing process,” said Steve Cotton, President and
CEO of Aqua Metals. “Bypassing the refining and ingoting steps
would enable recyclers that license and deploy AquaRefining
equipment to reduce costs from labor and processing time as well as
reduce the environmental impact of recycling and manufacturing new
batteries. By helping to efficiently bridge this resource-intensive
gap between the battery recycling and the battery manufacturing
processes, our new capability can potentially bring additional
environmental and cost benefits for our future customers.”
“Aqua Metals worked with a well-established lead
oxide manufacturer for testing. Results from our initial production
are very promising and we are engaged in ongoing R&D for this
new, innovative process,” Cotton added. “A provisional patent has
been filed for this procedure and we have already engaged in
discussions with some of our potential licensees for AquaRefining
to consider utilizing this transformative process. We expect this
development to be a very attractive added benefit, both to battery
recyclers and manufacturers.”
Figure 1: New process illustrates reduced
processing and materials handling that results in reduction in
resources and cost for recyclers and battery
manufacturers: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5f2496c8-53e4-4c49-9a48-091afc3fa665
Figure 2: Ultrapure spongy metal from the
AquaRefining electrolyzers are then compressed into briquettes
which the Company believes can now go directly to new battery
manufacturing: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/516964b5-c21a-4d63-af9a-12ac120bcc01
Aqua Metals Webcast
Aqua Metals will host a webcast today, January
27, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. EST (11:00 a.m. PST). Company management will
discuss today’s news and the BASF partnership announced on January
25, 2021. In addition, a comprehensive Company update will be
provided. To access the webcast or to ask questions during the live
event, please pre-register at the
following link: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1418041&tp_key=15848c88f4.
An archived version of the webcast and presentation will be
available on the investor relations section of the Company’s
website (https://ir.aquametals.com/ir-calendar) following the
event.
About Aqua Metals
Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) is reinventing
lead recycling with its patented AquaRefining™ technology. Unlike
smelting, AquaRefining is a room temperature, water-based process
that emits less pollution. The modular systems are intended to
allow the Company to vastly reduce environmental impact and scale
lead acid battery recycling production capacity by supplying
equipment, services and licensing the AquaRefining technology to
partners. This could help meet the growing demand for lead to power
new applications including stop/start automobile batteries which
complement the vehicle’s main battery, lead acid batteries which
are in electric vehicles, Internet data centers, alternative energy
applications including solar, wind, and grid scale storage. Aqua
Metals is based in McCarran, Nevada. To learn more, please visit
www.aquametals.com.
Aqua Metals has used, and intends to continue
using, its investor relations
website (https://ir.aquametals.com), in addition to its
Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts
at https://twitter.com/AquaMetalsInc (@AquaMatalsInc), https://www.linkedin.com/company/aqua-metals-limited and
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvxKNWcB69K0t7e337uQ8nQ respectively,
as means of disclosing material non-public information and for
complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking
statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, our plans, objectives,
expectations and intentions and other statements that contain words
such as "expects," "contemplates," "anticipates," "plans,"
"intends," "believes", "estimates", "potential" and variations of
such words or similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future
events or outcomes, or that do not relate to historical matters.
The forward-looking statements in this press release include our
expectations for the benefits of our new methodology for producing
battery manufacturing ready active material and the future of lead
acid battery recycling via traditional smelters. Those
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially. Among those factors are: (1) the risk that we
may not complete the development of our new methodology for
producing battery manufacturing ready active material, (2) the risk
that we may not realize the expected benefits from the new
methodology; (3) the risk that we may not be able to satisfactorily
demonstrate to potential licensees the technical and commercial
viability of our V1.25 electrolyzer and AquaRefining process; (4)
the risk that licensees may refuse or be slow to adopt our
AquaRefining process as an alternative to smelting in spite of the
perceived benefits of AquaRefining; (5) the risk that we may not
realize the expected economic benefits from any licenses we may
enter into; (6) the risk that we may not be able to access
additional capital as and when needed; (7) the fact that we have
not generated any significant revenue to date, thus subjecting us
to all of the risks inherent in an early-stage company; (8) the
risk that our patents and any other patents that may be issued may
be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented; (9) changes in the
federal, state and foreign laws regulating the recycling of lead
acid batteries; (10) our ability to protect our proprietary
technology, trade secrets and know-how and (11) those other risks
disclosed in the section "Risk Factors" included in our Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q filed on October 22, 2020 and subsequent SEC
filings. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance
on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake,
and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise such
statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as
they occur, except as required by law.
Contact: Glen Akselrod, Bristol Capital(905)
326-1888, Ext. 1glen@bristolir.com
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