Neometals Ltd on Wednesday announced the ‘successful production’ of battery-grade nickel sulphate through a German lithium-ion battery recycling demonstration trial.

Shares in Neometals surged 13% to 15.22 pence each on Wednesday in London.

The London-based sustainable battery materials producer said the trial was conducted by its 50:50 battery recycling joint venture, Primobius GmbH. Neometals established Primobius in partnership with Dusseldorf-based SMS Group GmbH, which provides plant construction and mechanical engineering services to the metals industry, to commercialise Neometals’s patented lithium-ion battery recycling technology.

‘The LIB recycling technology is based on a two-stage process to recover lithium, nickel and cobalt (amongst others) before refining into battery materials that can be reused to produce new LIBs,’ Neometals explained.

‘Nickel is the largest volume battery material produced in the Primobius process, the second most valuable product and major contributor to ensuring the lithium co-product operating costs are in the lowest quartile.’

The trial saw LIBs from the German electric vehicle auto industry processed at Primobius’s recycling facility in Hilchenbach.

Neometals said results confirmed the technology’s ability to produce battery-grade nickel sulphate, and follow similarly positive lithium recovery results announced in early October. Cobalt is next on the list, and Neometals expects test work to complete by the end of this year.

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