NMT (ASX) NMT investment in RIL

Originally posted by SusanL ↑

It’s worth taking a closer look at NMT and RIL’s developments from a practical perspective:

A) NMT’s hydro process still needs confirmation, particularly Mercedes, to ensure it can produce the required purity which is for batteries needed.

B) RIL’s licensing agreements for recycling cover areas that are highly regulated, but questions remain about the practicality of building plants in jurisdictions like Italy. With a strong local engineering workforce and economic needs, regions like Piedmont may prefer to operate their own facilities rather than bring in external operators from Germany or Australia.

C) The financial aspect raises significant questions! Who is funding these plants? And why would potential partners collaborate with RIL to operate when they could likely handle these projects independently? Without clear answers, the commercial viability of these partnerships remains uncertain.

D) The mention of an LFP flowsheet by RIL comes as a surprise. Developing such technology requires substantial resources, including funding and expertise, which don’t seem readily apparent from RIL’s current position.

While there is a lot of potential here, it’s essential to remain cautious and wait for further confirmations and updates, especially regarding partnerships and plant construction deals. Positive news could certainly change the narrative, but for now, a lot hinges on delivering tangible results.

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Hi Susan, thanks for posting. I can tell from your posting style that you're highly intelligent.

I'll write my response below while quoting you.

"A) NMT’s hydro process still needs confirmation, particularly Mercedes, to ensure it can produce the required purity which is for batteries needed."

NMT & MB are 2 years into a 5-year research & collaboration agreement. So, I'm assuming the "tech heads" will iron out any kinks, if any. NMT gives OEMs the ability to retain ownership over the battery materials, so I imagine MB might want to install a specific type of battery into their vehicles. Hence, the R&D collaboration.

"B) RIL’s licensing agreements for recycling cover areas that are highly regulated, but questions remain about the practicality of building plants in jurisdictions like Italy. With a strong local engineering workforce and economic needs, regions like Piedmont may prefer to operate their own facilities rather than bring in external operators from Germany or Australia."

Battery recycling is compulsory in Europe. In the UK, it's illegal to throw batteries into landfills, so, therein lies the problem. What to do with all the old batteries? New batteries will require a certain amount of recycled material over the years to come. Meaning, old batteries will have to be recycled & used in new batteries. It's not optional, that's a legal requirement. For that to happen, EU nations will have to welcome battery recyclers in their countries with open arms, to be able to achieve those goals. See the timeline below.

"C) The financial aspect raises significant questions! Who is funding these plants? And why would potential partners collaborate with RIL to operate when they could likely handle these projects independently? Without clear answers, the commercial viability of these partnerships remains uncertain."

Part 1 of your question. Who will fund the projects? My assumption is.....

1. Shareholders.
2. Any partner RIL signs a collaboration with. They probably want a slice of the pie themselves, considering the valuable materials inside the batteries.
3. The EU government. Who is pushing these legislations onto OEMs & allocating funds to entitles who are in the battery recycling sector. RIL has already become a beneficiary of EU funds, see the ann below.

REDIVIUM LIMITED (ASX:RIL) - Ann: European Grant for LiB Recycling Project, page-1 - HotCopper | ASX Share Prices, Stock Market & Share Trading Forum

4. International finance corporations.
5. Commodity traders.
6. The EU has a Green bond program, see the ann below.

REDIVIUM LIMITED (ASX:RIL) - Ann: Redivium to Commence Listed Green Bond Offering Process, page-1 - HotCopper | ASX Share Prices, Stock Market & Share Trading Forum

Part 2 of your question. Why would anyone collaborate with RIL?

That dovetails with a question I answered at the beginning of my post. The EU requires OEMs to recycle the batteries they make & new batteries require recycled content. RIL holds patented technology (from NMT) which OEMs would desire to achieve their legal requirements. How would they handle this requirement independently? They would need to spend the time & money to develop battery recycling tech. There are already a lot of competitors out there vying for their slice of the pie. Anyway, RIL could licence the tech to OEMs, so in theory, they are kind of doing it independently.

"D) The mention of an LFP flowsheet by RIL comes as a surprise. Developing such technology requires substantial resources, including funding and expertise, which don’t seem readily apparent from RIL’s current position."

I believe Greenhouse was working on the project before all the licences & contacts were rolled under the RIL umbrella. So, RIL became a partner by default. All the hard work was already done by the Greenhouse crew. By the looks of it, Greenhouse & the Sunlight Group were collaborating together on an LFP project in Greece, which has received EU funding in the past. I don't know too much about it myself. The Sunlight Group manufactures batteries around the world, among other things.

The project is in the link below.

About – Relife Project

Website below.

Global Energy Storage Systems | The Sunlight Group