PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Neometals has commissioned Stage 1 of its lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant in Canada.

The pilot project is intended to demonstrate Neometals’ mixed feed flowsheet, which will accommodate a variety of lithium-ion battery types from multiple sources. The plant is expected to verify assumptions made at bench-scale, and to generate marketing samples of products, while providing essential data required for a front-end engineering design study (FEED).

The proposed FEED study will support a subsequent feasibility study and enable Neometals to consider investing in a commercial plant.

“We are delighted to see our battery recycling project back on track. The commissioning of the pilot represents a significant milestone and marks the culmination of extensive research and development into a flowsheet to process multiple battery chemistries, from consumer electronics to electric vehicle applications,” said Neometals MD Chris Reed.

“With ever increasing volumes of commercial lithium-ion batteries reaching their end of life, we are focused on providing at scale, then qualifying our scale-able and modular recycling solution with industry as early as possible. The pilot will serve as a showcase facility for potential partners as well as provide strong independent data for future engineering and financial studies.”

SCS Canada was awarded the contracts to construct and operate the pilot facility, with the Stage 1 operation consisting of the front-end preparation unit, capable of shredding and removing the metal casings and plastics.

The Stage 2 operation is a hydrometallurgical processing and refining stage to deliver high-purity battery materials for market qualifications.

SGS will conduct an independent verification and optimisation of Neometals’ flowsheet using samples from the Stage 1 shredding, which will provide data for the Stage 2 recovery and refining aspect, which is currently being constructed.