Ann: Lithium Battery Recycling - Outstanding Cost Estimates, page-5

PRIMOBIUS RECYCLING JV –
OPERATING AND CAPITAL COST ESTIMATES
HIGHLIGHTS
• Operating and Capital Cost estimates finalised for a Primobius 50tpd (18,250tpa) commercial recycling plant in
Germany based on successful pilot plant trials of Neometals’ proprietary hydrometallurgical flowsheet;
• Operating cost estimate of €1,417 (US$1,560) per tonne of batteries processed;
• Capital cost estimate of €150M (US$165M) (inc. 10% contingency)for 50tpd (18,250tpa) recycling operation;
• Capital cost increase from 2019 Scoping Study largely attributable to construct-own buildings and infrastructure v.
commercial lease, additional equipment to increase recoveries and site relocation toGermany; and
• Demonstration Plant trials and Feasibility Study on-schedule for completion in July and December 2021 respectively,
with a final investment decision on track forthe MarQ of 2022.
Innovative project development company, Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) (“Neometals” or “the Company”), is pleased to announce
that Primobius GmbH (“Primobius”), the joint venture company owned 50:50 by Neometals and SMS group GmbH (“SMS group”), hasfinalised operating and capital cost estimates for its first proposed lithium-ion battery (“LIB”) recycling operation in Germany.
The operating and capital costs have been estimated to an Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (“AACE”) Class 4 accuracy (±25%) for a 50 tonnes per day, commercial-scale LIB recycling plant in Germany based on data from the successful
2020 Canadian pilot plant (“Pilot”) trials on Neometals’ proprietary flowsheet. Strategic Metallurgy Pty Ltd (“Strategic Metallurgy”) prepared a mass-energy balance and Primero Group Limited (“Primero”) developed the process design criteria, equipment selection and layout. The resultant physical inputs and outputs have been estimated using local German prices.
Strong progress is also being made with Primobius’ LIB demonstration plant (“DP”) with wet commissioning to commence in June 2021. The Company will use data and learnings from the DP trials to complete an AACE Class 3 Engineering Cost (“ECS”) and Feasibility Study (“FS”) to build and operate Primobius’ first commercial-scale recycling plant. A formal economic study will form part of the FS which istargeted for completion in MarQ2022.
Neometals’ Managing Director Chris Reed said:
“We are extremely encouraged with the robust potential economics for Primobius’ first proposed commercial plant. Importantly, the operating costs have increased by less than 5% from our 2019 Scoping Study estimates* despite the jump from lab to pilotscale, and the site relocation from Kwinana to Germany. We took the conservative step to include the cost of constructing dedicated industrial buildings until such time as we are able to identify and agree terms to leased premises. Naturally,we expected the capital costs to increase inline with the change in scope and increased estimation accuracy levels.
The safe production of, amongst other things, cathode-grade nickel and cobalt sulphates from a variety of battery feedstocks, using our patent pending process, augurs well for achieving our ambitions to build Europe’s leading sustainable recycling solution.”