1.23.24-Japan-Nth-Cycle

JOSHUA PASSANTINO: Thank you for the introduction. My name is Josh Passantino, and I'm the lead electrochemist at Nth Cycle. Nth Cycle was founded in 2017 by our CEO, Dr. Megan O'Connor, along with co-founders Chad Vecitas and Desiree Plata of MIT. Nth Cycle is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, and I'm excited to announce that we are in the process of building our first commercial facility in Fairfield, Ohio, where we'll demonstrate that we can produce nickel metal hydroxide products by the end of 2024.

As many of you are aware, there's an issue with the growing demand for critical minerals globally. And this issue is exacerbated by outdated technologies that are inefficient and greenhouse gas intensive, as well as supply sourcing risks for a lot of critical minerals. And this is where Nth Cycle is able to step in with our technology, The OYSTER, where we're able to actually co-locate on site where these minerals need to be refined.

This allows us to reduce carbon footprint by reducing transportation costs, as well as our technology is more efficient compared to outdated technologies. We're also able to process many different types of materials. Like an oyster from the ocean can process many different wastes, we can process many different feedstocks and make high-value products. And we're able to do this in a transparent and traceable manner that actually meets compliance and regulatory necessities around the world, such as with the IRA and EU compliances.

And our process can be divided into four separate steps, one being using our feedstock reactor to react the materials. And then a pre-processing, where it then feeds into our electroextraction system, which is The OYSTER, and finally into post-processing. And here we have highlighted one of our cells. This is our choice cell, which can be deployed in 50 to 142 cells per unit, and we can deploy multiple units, whether they be in parallel or in series to process more material at the same time or actually process different materials and produce different products within the same unit.

And we're able to do this quickly and rapidly with low permitting issues. For example, our Fairfield, Ohio took only six months to actually get all the permits we needed to produce that facility which is almost unheard of in the mining space.

And just an example of some of the product that we've made, on the left, we have what our nickel metal hydroxide product looks like that we refined from NMC111 batteries. And we worked with Oak Ridge National labs based out of Tennessee to actually compare this to virgin materials. And so you can see the SEM images showing that our product, whenever actually converted into a battery material, performed similarly and looked similarly to that of the virgin material. And so we had similar capacities and also were able to retain that capacity with over 200 cycles with the batteries that were made from end cycle refined and recycled materials.

And currently, we do have existing partnerships in Japan. For example, we have a major trading company that pursues business innovation from product sales and worldwide logistics through major international infrastructure projects. And we're working with them to currently trade black mass as well as to offtake our MHP, our mixed hydroxide product. We're also working with a global car manufacturer who's committed to collecting waste produced in its manufacturing operations and maximize its recycling, and we're working with them to actually refine and recover their nickel, cobalt, and lithium batteries for their EVs and hybrid vehicle fleet.

And these are just two examples of companies that we're working with. But we work to support three specific industries. One being scrap recyclers that are looking to refine their materials into high-value products. We're also working with mining companies who want to create circular and sustainable supply chains as well as meet regulatory compliance. And we're also looking to work with OEMs who are looking to unlock their stranded assets, and extend their mine life, and reduce waste.

And so with that, I thank you for your time. And I invite you to come speak to me, and learn more about Nth Cycle at the lunch break. Thank you very much.

[APPLAUSE]