Innovating Nickel and Cobalt Battery Materials The Company Who we are What we do We are a Nickel and Cobalt refiner commercializing a Selective Acid Leaching (SAL) process developed by the University of Queensland. SAL is a patented process to upgrade Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP, a laterite nickel intermediate) into battery ready nickel and cobalt precursor materials with very low environmental footprint. Extensive testing done with key MHP producers. Timing is now right with urgency and interest in the market increasing due to EV & battery market growth. Market Drivers Electric Vehicle Growth Source: Global EV Outlook, UBS estimates • Government legislation and strict greenhouse gas emission targets in personal transport sector are driving EV development. • Major advancements in battery technology and economies of scale are driving the EV industry to be profitable. • Lower battery costs combined with EVs’ increasing driving range leads to broader consumer appeal. Battery Industry Source: Roskill Source: Australian Government -­‐ Dept of Industry, Innovation & Science Source: Dept of Industry, Innovation & Science Source: Roskill Battery market advancing its development through lower cost materials and innovative precursor development Material compounds for renewable energy batteries now being sourced from MHP (Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate) *Source: Boston Consulting Group Industry developing more affordable and more capable Li-­‐Ion battery materials, finding better alternatives to LCO, NCA and LFP. NMC has good overall performance and excels on specific energy. This battery is the preferred candidate for EVs and has the lowest self-­‐ heating rate.* EV Battery Chemistry trending towards high Ni Content Nickel & Cobalt (NCA & NMC) required in leading cathode chemistry for EV Li-­‐ion batteries Composition of major battery cathodes Source: Avicenne, Macquarie Research, 2017 Shift towards high Ni Content EV batteries -­‐ Superior energy density -­‐ Increased range -­‐ Mitigating cost of cobalt -­‐ Security concerns of Co supply Li-­‐ion batteries high in Nickel offer long range at low cost Nickel: The essential metal for new premium precursors Nickel Demand and Supply Estimated nickel market impact of EVs by 2025 Li-­‐ion batteries require high purity nickel feedstock Source: AME, WBMS, UBS Source: UBS Research, BHP Nickel Industry Trend Nickel Laterites account for an estimated 70% of known global nickel resources. Ni Laterite Due to dwindling resources of nickel sulphides combined with the need to mine at greater (and subsequently less economic) depths, there is a trend towards mining Nickel Laterite as a resource. Good Recovery Trend towards producing MHP (Mix Hydroxide Precipitate) and MSP (Mix Sulphide Precipitate) Poor Recovery Trend away from pyro metallurgical processes with no cobalt recovery Nickel Laterite Processing 101 Generating the Feedstock (MHP) for PBT No Co recovery High Grade Ore Low Ni Co recovery <80%, <60% Energy Intense Hi Ni Co recovery Low Power Demand (MHP) SAL Our Processes – Simplified Flow Sheet Selective Acid Leaching (SAL) / Reductive Acid Selective Cobalt Leaching (RASCL) Blee d Electrowinning (optional) NiSO4 MHP + Oxidant SAL Nickel Concentrate Crystallization NHP ~ 90% of Nickel / Nil Precipitation Co and Mn contained in MHP feed 100 % Cobalt and Manganese and 10% Nickel contained in MHP feed Cobalt Concentrate Cobalt salts (CoSO4) and CoNiMn concentrate precursors PERFECT for Li-­‐NCM battery electrodes RASCL Our Selective Acid Leach Process • Simple one step fully patented process – no solvent extraction (SX) required • Strong, clean and immediate separation of nickel and cobalt • Nickel recovery higher with valuable side stream of unique cobalt concentrate • • Natural occurrence of NMC 1:1:1 ratio in cobalt stream Flow sheet allows to adjust to new product mixes(e.g. NMC 622 or NMC 811) with ease • Robust & selective • Faster (~1 hour) • Extremely Simple: one step process -­‐ no solvent extraction • Safer than MSP: no toxic or flammable elements • Defendable capex & opex • Sidestream Value: high cobalt recovery • Upstream flexibility • New high margin product delivery • Energy Efficient • No Solid Waste or Tailings • Compact: very small footprint • Lowest environmental footprint in class Byproduct Value Reductive Acid Selective Cobalt Leach (RASCL) Cobalt stream POTENTIAL UPSIDE NMC streams Facilitates economy of other material extraction projects incl. rehabilitation RASCL is a proprietary add-­‐on process to SAL VALUE Board / Management Team • • • • • • Highly experienced Metallurgist, Manager and Company Director. 15+ years demonstrated success in the growth, strategic development, governance, risk management and team development. Previous Owner / Principal Engineer of a boutique engineering design firm. Director of a start-­‐up fin tech firm. Director of an international mining investment group. Bachelor of Engineering -­‐ Mineral Processing, University of Queensland. • • • • • • Business Builder / Entrepreneur / Manager. Finance / Investment Banking / Private Equity. Co-­‐founder (2009) and Director of Square Resources Group. Interim CEO for VSPC, downstream material processing technology company for the battery industry in 2015. Prior to Square Senior Vice President of Lehman Brothers / Nomura Australia in natural resources, metals and mining. MBA from The Wharton School of Business. Richard Wittig Project Director Dr. William Hawker CTO Bjorn Zikarsky Managing Director / CEO Stephen Wilmot Chairman Lecturer in Hydrometallurgy at the University of Queensland. • 12 years' experience in operation, design, industrial and fundamental research for processing of base minerals, rare earths, gold and PGMs. • Point researcher of the SAL selective nickel leaching process. • PhD research on low energy synergistic copper processing now in commercial use by Glencore. • Recipient of numerous awards and scholarships. • • • • • • • Certified Practicing Project Director (CPPD). 15+ years’ experience in all Project Management phases. Experienced in Owner Operator, EPC/ M and consulting organisations. Management experience includes Geology (drilling test work programs), Mining & Mineral Processing, Infrastructure (civil works including roads, dams, bulk commodity ports, marine dredging and trans shipping), Utilities, Environment & Social (impact assessments, project approvals). Master of Project Management (Bond) Global Strat. Management Cert. (Harvard Business School). Advisory and Consultants Mark McNamara Advisor Processing • • • • • • • Background in the engineering technology and environmental services field. Current MD of VSPC, part of Lithium Australia. Founder of Hydrodec and Infinite Oil. Managed the construction and subsequent commissioning of similar plants as planned by PBT. Served as MD, CEO and CTO of listed company in the oil and gas processing industry. Extensive waste management experience. University Degree in Applied Science (Chemistry). Johnnie Stoker Advisor Battery Markets Dr. James Vaughan Hydrometallurgy Consultant Technology executive with R&D, commercialization, sales, start-­‐up experience • Unprecedented access to battery supply chain. • Experience in lab / plant to Board and C-­‐Level functions. • Founded and grew successful battery technology start-­‐up with international operations. • Chairman Emeritus at Battery Company K2 Energy Solutions. • 30 year plus history in marketing innovative battery products. • PhD Chemical Engineering. • • • • • • • Senior Lecturer in Hydrometallurgy. Director of the University of Queensland Rio Tinto Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre. Experience in industrial extractive metallurgy Research. At the frontier of leaching, precipitation and ion exchange research. Authored over 50 journal and conference papers. Patented six technologies in platinum, nickel, cobalt, and copper. Contact: Pure Battery Technologies Pty Ltd Level 15, 12 Creek Street Brisbane QLD 4000 Australia www.purebatterytech.com
