Aqua Metals Secures Five-Year Copper and Aluminum Offtake Agreement

Aqua Metals, a company specializing in sustainable lithium battery recycling, has secured a significant commercial agreement with a Midwest metals recycler. The five-year letter of intent (LOI) will see Aqua Metals sell up to 100% of the recovered copper and aluminum from its planned Project Headwaters facility, valued at over $105 million based on current market prices.

Project Headwaters, set to be developed in the Midwestern United States, is designed to recycle lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap. The facility will employ Aqua Metals' proprietary AquaRefining™ technology to recover lithium and other battery materials, while also producing distinct recyclable metal streams for copper and aluminum.

The LOI follows Aqua Metals' previous announcement of a six-year lithium product offtake agreement. This new agreement covers all three primary product streams from Project Headwaters: lithium carbonate, copper, and aluminum. Cotton, Aqua Metals' President and CEO, stated, "We now have commercial pathways for every primary product stream at Headwaters, and we have them before we break ground. Our objective is to build a recycling platform that can compete economically while recovering and keeping valuable battery materials within the domestic supply chain."

The copper and aluminum recovered from Project Headwaters are crucial components in large-format lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Certain LFP batteries and manufacturing scrap can also carry processing or recycling fees, creating additional revenue streams for recyclers. Project Headwaters is being designed to capture both sides of this economic opportunity, separating copper and aluminum from battery materials prior to downstream refining.

Cotton added, "Establishing commercial pathways for lithium, copper, and aluminum materially advances our strategy. Together, the lithium carbonate, copper, and aluminum LOIs demonstrate our progress in establishing commercial outlets across multiple Project Headwaters product streams in advance of construction and commissioning."

The LOI provides a 24-month period to negotiate and execute a definitive offtake agreement. The terms of the agreement will be tied to prevailing market benchmarks, subject to agreed product specifications and customary commercial terms. The LOI is non-binding and provides a framework for product qualification and negotiation of a definitive offtake agreement.

Aqua Metals is advancing sustainable lithium battery recycling through its proprietary AquaRefining™ technology, an electro-hydrometallurgical process designed to recover critical battery materials using electricity rather than high-temperature processing. The company is developing Project Headwaters as its first commercial-scale deployment focused on domestic recycling and refining of lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap.

The LOI with the Midwest metals recycler is part of Aqua Metals' broader strategy to secure commercial pathways for its planned domestic LFP recycling platform. The company believes these commercial relationships can help support project financing while reducing future commodity marketing and product-placement risk.