Mr. Larry Reaugh reports

AMI LOOKING TO ADAPT PATENTED PROCESS TO RECYCLE LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

American Manganese Inc. is looking to adapt its patented process to recycle spent lithium ion battery materials. With lithium ion battery recycling in its infancy, American Manganese aims to capitalize on its patented technology and proprietary know-how to become an industry leader in the recycling of lithium ion batteries.

With the rapid development and commercialization of electric vehicles, the lithium ion battery market is expected to grow significantly. The cathode materials in these batteries are used to store and discharge energy. These materials contain lithium embedded in a base metal oxide matrix and represent the largest single materials cost in the manufacture of lithium ion cells (ranging from 20 to 30 per cent of the materials cost of a cell).

Norman Chow, president of Kemetco Research Inc., said: "There is currently no known commercial technology for the large-scale recycling of cathode materials of multiple chemistries. The spent cathode materials represent an ideal resource material to be processed with American Manganese's proprietary hydrometallurgical process."

Larry Reaugh commented, "Successful application of the AMI patented process could result in the following benefits:

• "Lower cost of raw materials, potentially generating higher-profit margins for battery manufacturers;
• "Hydrometallurgical processing eliminates product crushing and grinding, potentially lowering processing costs, while generating products with less extraneous metal contamination thereby lowering the chances of battery explosions or fires due to thermal runaway;
• "Significant environmental benefits, including, but not limited to:
  • "Substantial reduction of landfill waste;
  • "Reduction of energy consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants;
  • "Reduced consumption of critical and strategic metals;
• "Hydrometallurgical process is easily scalable;
• "Potential to recycle all lithium and base metal matrix compounds;
• "Applicable to multiple lithium ion battery chemistries, including lithium cobalt (LiCoO2), lithium nickel manganese cobalt (LiNixMnyCozO2) and lithium manganese (LiMn2O4);
• "Ability to tailor treatment process to precipitate cathode materials with tailored structures and chemistries for improved battery performance."

The company intends to partner with Kemetco Research to demonstrate on a bench scale that the conceptual process can treat spent lithium ion battery cathode materials, producing rejuvenated materials suitable for reuse in new lithium ion batteries. The proposed testing program would be carried out at Kemetco Research's laboratory located in Richmond, B.C.

Financing

American Manganese is actively exploring many potential sources funds for this work, including: government research grants available in Canada or the United States; an alliance with an established company in the lithium ion battery, electric vehicle or materials-recycling businesses; a joint venture with a financing group; and sale of a royalty on future use of the company's patented process.

About Kemetco Research

Kemetco Research is a privately owned contract research and development company, specializing in extractive metallurgy, chemical processing and specialty chemical analysis. It was formed after the acquisition of the industrial process division of B.C. Research, which had been in operation for over 60 years as a research and development contractor in British Columbia.

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