BUILDING A RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ACCOUNTS FOR BOTH OPTIMISM AND CAUTION

Copyright © 2023 Aqua Metals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CONFIDENTIAL
EV Battery Recycling & Reuse
March 2023
LEADING A
REVOLUTION
In Lithium Battery Recycling

CONFIDENTIAL
CURRENT RECYCLING IS DIRTY AND INEFFICIENT
2
SCALING RECYCLING RESPONSIBLY
Recycling is imperative:
• Reduce reliance on mining
• Meet supply chain demand
• US targets for retaining strategic metals
Li
Current recycling not viable
long term
• Large carbon footprint
• Produces untenable waste stream
quantities
• Low recovery, needing further
processing

CONFIDENTIAL
LI RECYCLING MUST BE CLEAN
3
USING CLEAN ELECTRICITY TO
RECYCLE
• Need to create a recycling infrastructure that meets
market demand while not being a step backwards from
our carbon targets
• Our vision is to be the only recycler capable of helping
battery manufacturers of EV batteries and energy storage
systems reach net zero
• We have the only viable recycling technology necessary
for a sustainable, circular battery metals economy
Li

CONFIDENTIAL
BUILDING SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE FROM THE START
4
LITHIUM BATTERY RECYCLING MUST
PROGRESS SUSTAINABLY
Company is focused on ensuring
sustainable lithium-ion battery (LiB)
recycling happens
• Only company with proven emissions-
and waste-reducing technology
Recycling of LiB is essential to
creating secure domestic supply
chain for critical battery metals
Mining alone is untenable – both in
volume and environmental impacts
• Battery manufacturing capacity
expanding rapidly, mines/processing
take years to go online
Li

CONFIDENTIAL 5
AQUA METALS IS THE ONLY OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABLE RECYCLER

CONFIDENTIAL 6
AQUA METALS PROPOSED CLEAN RECYCLING CAMPUS IN
TAHOE-RENO INDUSTRIAL CENTER
Company is focused on ensuring
the same fate does not happen with
lithium-ion batteries (LiB)
• Only company with proven emissions-
and waste-reducing technology
Recycling of LiB is essential to
creating secure domestic supply
chain for critical battery metals
Mining alone is untenable – both in
volume and environmental impacts
• Battery manufacturing capacity
expanding rapidly, mines/processing
take years to go online
PHASE 2:
BUILD NEW BUILDING AND
~6.000T/YR FACILITY
PHASE 1:
REFURBISH AND INSTALL
3,000T/YR FACILITY
PHASE 3:
INCREASE CAPACITY OR
NEW CHEMISTRIES

CONFIDENTIAL
SUSTAINABLE
RECYCLING
INFRASTRUCTURE

CONFIDENTIAL
NEXT GENERATION RECYCLING PROCESS
8
Replaces furnaces and heavy
chemical use with 100% electricity-
powered and closed-loop
regeneration, creating
fundamentally non-polluting, cost-
efficient solution that generates
minimal waste
Proven for LABs and expanding
to LiBs
Strong IP protection:
73 global patents
43 patents pending
Recovers the high-value metals lost
in smelting, and produces high
purity products
Safer work environment, less
hazardous materials
The only recycling process that:
Produces lithium hydroxide directly,
reclaims high purity metals (not salts),
regenerates chemicals used in closed-
loop system, and has a clear pathway
to net-zero operations

CONFIDENTIAL 9
LI AQUAREFINING FLEXIBILITY Li

CONFIDENTIAL 10
AQUA METALS: ONLY COMPANY TO RECOVER ALL THIS FROM BLACK MASS
Confidential

CONFIDENTIAL
4,214 *
2,960 *
65
PYRO HYDRO LI AQUAREFINING
11
GAME CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE Li
42,140
29,600
650
4,500,000
12,150,000
375,000
KG CO2 PRODUCED PER MT OF
BLACK MASS PROCESSED
MT CO2 PRODUCED ANNUALLY
AT 10,000 MT FACILITY
TOTAL SODIUM SULFATE WASTE
PRODUCED PER 15M MT
BATTERIES PROCESSED
*Based on Argonne National Labs battery life-cycle model —EverBatt
• Aqua Metals’ Li AquaRefining technology uses drastically less energy – and is powered by electricity, instead of fossil fuels
• The process also produces markedly less waste than currently proposed solutions
• As we scale lithium recycling, these differences become very stark

CONFIDENTIAL 12
Batteries Break and
Separation
Black Mass Creation
Batteries Break and
Separation
Black Mass
Creation
AQUAFREFINING High purity metals plated
Cathode
Precursors
Cathode
Precursors
Chemical precipitation - not proven at scale
Batteries Furnace
Combined product of
cobalt and nickel
Furnace
Separation step
Furnace
Refining/Precursor
step
Cathode
Precursors High environmental impact – not viable long term. Does not
recover lithium or manganese
Produces alloys requiring further refinement
Co Ni Mn
Li Cu
X X
Expected to produce battery grade precursors (High risk)
Uses 200X the chemicals of AquaRefining
Only produces salts or lithium carbonate
Co Ni Mn
Li Cu
Flexibility to produce any cathode material from high purity metals
Produce lithium hydroxide directly
Co Ni Mn
Li Cu
Smelting approach is currently a multistep pyro approach to get back into supply chain. Emissions will be unsustainable long
term as recycling volume increases.
Not commercially proven. High waste streams may prove economically inviable
Expected to be Economically and environmentally superior, producing higher quality product with better yield.
PYRO
HYDRO
AQUAREFINING
RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY COMPARISON

CONFIDENTIAL
Recent Achievements
13
Proven: Bench Scale
Recovered all high-
value metals from used
LiBs: high purity LiOH,
Cu, Ni, Co, and MnO2
Pilot Plant
Deployment of first LiB
recycling operation in
December 2022
Scaling Operations
Pilot plant scaling to 24x5
operations and expected
to recycle 6-10 tons of
LiB black mass per month
in 2023
Commercial Growth
Plans for new phased campus
facility (at TRIC) with space for
10,000 t/yr. (~100,000 average
EV battery packs)

CONFIDENTIAL
Phased Development of Commercial Scale Plant
14
• Five-acre campus designed to ultimately process
more than 20 million pounds of lithium-ion
battery material annually
• Phase 1 (lower right) – 3,000 tons input per year
Li AquaRefining facility in existing building
• Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center campus at the
heart of Nevada’s lithium battery supply chain
• Rendering of existing building (lower right) and
planned future expansions

CONFIDENTIAL
THE FUTURE OF
CLEAN METAL
RECYCLING

CONFIDENTIAL
31,605,000
22,200,000
487,500
4,500,000
12,150,000
375,000
TOTAL SODIUM SULFATE WASTE PRODUCED
15,000,000 MT BATTERIES PROCESSED
TOTAL CO2 PRODUCED 15,000,000
MT BATTERIES PROCESSED
16
LET’S WORK TOGETHER TO GET LI RECYCLING RIGHT Li
• By 2030, the US is set to be
manufacturing nearly 1 terawatt-
hour of new lithium batteries
each year
• If we recycle millions of tons of
batteries each year using
traditional solutions, emissions,
waste, water and economic
impacts will be too high
• Companies pursuing pyro and
hydro recycling solutions today
could become stranded assets in
a climate-constrained world

CONFIDENTIAL 17
SUMMARY & INVITATION TO Q&A Li
Aqua Metals is scaling rapidly and
leading the future of sustainable
lithium battery recycling
We believe our adaptable recycling technology is the
most sustainable solution for current chemistries, and
best to adapt to future commercial lithium technologies
(like LFP).
We aim to partner with innovative companies driving a
low-carbon energy future, seeking a domestic supply of
recycled battery metals.
We are ready to lead the path to net-zero lithium battery
recycling.

CONFIDENTIAL 18
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
WWW.AQUAMETALS.COM
NASDAQ: AQMS
Steve Cotton
President and CEO
Steve.Cotton@aquametals.com
David Regan
Vice President of Commercial
David.Regan@aquametals.com
Questions?

CONFIDENTIAL
APPENDIX

CONFIDENTIAL 20
LI AQUAREFINING PILOT – MINERAL SEPARATION Li

CONFIDENTIAL 21
LI AQUAREFINING PILOT – NICKEL & COBALT PLATING Li

CONFIDENTIAL 22
LI AQUAREFINING PILOT – LITHIUM CRYSTALLIZER Li

CONFIDENTIAL 23
WWW.AQUAMETALS.COM
NASDAQ: AQMS

BUILDING A RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ACCOUNTS FOR BOTH OPTIMISM AND CAUTION

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