In recent weeks, there have been numerous electric vehicle (EV) start-ups going public through SPACs at outrageously high valuations. Anything related to EVs and EV battery technology is red hot right now, but there are so many scams out there like Nikola (NKLA), which now has a market cap of $16 billion despite not even having a prototype of a vehicle. Other examples of bubble EV stocks include NIO, SHLL, and SPAQ.
American Manganese (TSXV: AMY) actually has a working pilot plant using its patented RecycLiCo™ process that late last year recovered high purity (99.98% and 99.977%) nickel-cobalt hydroxide from the NCA cathode scrap material of two tier-one EV Battery producers. AMY's almost identical purity test results indicated that the RecycLiCo™ patented processes can remain consistent and repeatable on cathode scrap material sourced from different companies. AMY shipped the high purity recycled material back to the tier-one companies for analysis and confidential technical discussion regarding the recycling process.
On February 28, 2020, AMY reported on its continued cooperation with a tier-one lithium-ion battery manufacturing company, regarding additional recycling tests to take place on their battery manufacturing waste product, to produce recycled sulfate products (click here to read AMY's February 28th press release).
On April 2, 2020, AMY announced that recycling tests were conducted on the NCA cathode scrap material that it received from this tier-one battery manufacturing company, and AMY's patented RecycLiCo™ process produced a nickel-cobalt sulfate product at 99.99% purity. AMY has since sent the recycled product back to the tier-one lithium-ion battery producer for their testing and independent analysis (click here to read AMY's April 2nd press release).
On June 9, 2020, AMY announced that engineering upgrades to its pilot plant successfully achieved a 150% increase in its capacity from 64 kg/day up to 160 kg/day, without sacrificing the recovery potential of nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and aluminum. This gives AMY confidence in their ability to scale up to their planned commercial capacity of 3 tonnes/day. AMY also said in its June 9th press release that it has expressed interest in commercialization via licensing or joint venture agreements and plans to locate the recycling plant in a strategic location within North America, where it will prepare recycled products suitable for battery manufacturing (click here to read AMY's June 9th press release).
On July 22nd in Tesla (TSLA)'s 2Q results conference call, Elon Musk said, “Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way."
Between July 23rd and July 28th, the nickel explorer Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC) exploded from $1.03 per share up to a high of $3 per share for a gain of 191.26% in four days after the company announced a plan to produce zero-carbon nickel. In our opinion, AMY is best positioned to meet Musk's challenge because the company already has a patented environmentally friendly closed-loop hydrometallurgical system with no green house gas emissions, no landfill waste, low energy consumption, and recycling of process water and reagents while also reducing reliance on mining raw materials.
On July 30, 2020, AMY announced that it has just received specialized pieces of equipment that should further increase their pilot plant's capacity with new optimization tests about to take place! AMY estimates that optimization results could subsequently improve commercial plant design and process capacity while lowering capital expenditures and annual operating costs (click here to read AMY's July 30th press release). AMY said on July 30th that "the plant should be back up and running within the first week of August 2020".
We will be reporting on AMY's optimization results as soon as they are released!
Click here to read an article from Proactive Investors that was released this past Friday afternoon discussing how AMY along with CNC are some of the best positioned companies to meet Musk's challenge! AMY's RecycLiCo™ patented process offers a robust and closed-circuit hydrometallurgical solution that does not use the conventional high-heat smelting process known as pyrometallurgy. The cost of the reagent consumption in AMY's process is estimated to be less than 10% of the recoverable value in the cathode material.
Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. This message is not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold securities. NIA has received compensation from AMY of USD$30,000 cash for a six-month marketing contract which has since expired. This message is meant for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.
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