PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An internal engineering cost study (ECS) for a first-stage shredding plant, of a potential 50 t/d integrated lithium-ion battery recycling operation in Germany, has placed a capital cost of $103.9-million on the development.

ASX-listed Neometals, which is part owner of the Primobius joint venture (JV) with SMS group GmbH, said on Tuesday that the ECS is being delivered in two parts, comprising a shredding spoke and a hydrometallurgical refinery hub, co-located at a greenfield industrial park site in Germany.

The ECS, upon completion in December 2022, will allow the evaluation of a completely integrated spoke and hub operation.

The timing and staged delivery of the studies allows Primobius to prioritise the offer of commercial plant supply agreements for a 10 t/d spoke to Mercedes-Benz and 50 t/d spoke to Stelco Holdings. Commercial plant supply agreements for the respective refinery hubs for both parties are expected in 2023.

The staged delivery model also enables the production and sale of intermediate mixed nickel/cobalt product, known as Black Mass, from spokes during the construction and commissioning of refinery hubs.

The spoke ECS estimated yearly throughput of 21 000 t, comprising 70% modules and 30% individual cells, with a yearly production of 7 130 t and an operating cost of $1 400/t.

“The spoke ECS allows us to better assess and control the costs of constructing and operating Europe’s largest battery recycling plant that is purpose built to take the larger battery modules arising from electric vehicles,” said Neometals MD Chris Reed.

“The addition of a large manual discharging and disassembly operation for modules comes at a cost, that is outweighed by access to a larger market in the medium to long term. It is also worth noting that we currently get paid to process modules whereas many American recyclers compete to buy individual cells.

“The Primobius team is now focussed on the delivery of the hub ECS and offering plant supply agreements to Mercedes-Benz and Stelco in December this year. The hub ECS is key to Primobius’ consideration to exercise its option to acquire up to 50% equity in the Stelco lithium-ion battery recycling business in North America, which represents a significant opportunity,” said Reed.

“Our proprietary refining hub is the largest value generator for Primobius and its customers. The hub processes Black Mass into high-purity and higher-value battery materials which can be used in production of new batteries. Integrated recycling closes the loop, reducing the carbon footprint of new cells using recycled feedstocks and complies with pending EU regulatory requirements to use minimum levels of recycled content in the new lithium-ion batteries.”