The Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) share price has stepped into the red this morning.
The Neometals share price initially jumped 1.2% from the open to 81.5 cents, but at the time of writing it has dropped to 78.5 cents, a fall of 2.48% from yesterday's closing price.
Neometals shares are on the move after the minerals explorer gave an announcement regarding its battery recycling plant.
Let's investigate further.
What did Neometals announce?
Recall that the Primobius plant is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Neometals and SMS Group GmbH. Neometals recently announced it had completed stage 1 commissioning at the plant on 12 August.
In the announcement made earlier today, Neometals explained that "in response to customer interest", it would fund its Primobius JV "to fast-track commercial operations" at the plant. SMS Group will also fund the JV with Neometals, as per the release
As a result of Neometal's decision, "recycling services (will be) offered in Q1 2022", and Primobius will modify its existing plant to "process up to 10 tonnes per day".
This will "provide disposal services" to European automakers and cell makers, according to the company.
In addition, Neometals outlined the process which the plant intends to use in its operations. According to the release, Primobius will "shred batteries, physically separate battery components", after which it will "sell mixed cathode and anode" with the label "Black Mass".
In fact, Neometals explains the "shredder plant 1" will derive its "early revenue" almost exclusively from the sale of black mass.
What did management say?
Speaking on the release, Neometals' managing director Chris Reed said:
We are excited to herald the entry of Primobius into the commercial European battery recycling landscape. The funding approval is an agile response by the JV shareholders to strong demand for the safe disposal of growing volumes of lithium-ion batteries arising from warranty returns and at end-of-life. 10tpd Shredding Plant 1 represents the maximum commitment we can make to meet demand having regard to regulatory permitting timeline constraints.
In addition, when touching on future scale, Reed said:
As well as being a showcase for potential customers and partners, the facility will provide a valuable training ground for the operations team and will support continuous process improvement ahead of the next scale up to a 50tpd operation. The scale and speed of the electrification of transport and renewable energy storage is phenomenal, the volumes and momentum of global investment funds available to support enablers of decarbonisation steel our resolve for Primobius to become the pre-eminent recycler in the western world.
Neometals share price snapshot
The Neometals share price has posted a year-to-date return of 187%. It has also gained 327% in the past 12 months.
In addition, Neometals' shares have climbed 37% over the past month.
These gains have outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s return of around 25% over the past year.
