Primobius

Primobius focuses on providing recycling solutions for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIB). The company is a 50:50 joint venture between Australia’s Neometals and German industrial machine manufacturer SMS Group. Primobius’ LIB recycling process uses a hydrometallurgical technology to recover metals, such as cobalt, nickel, iron, and copper, as well as plastics for reuse in battery production. The technology is claimed to have recovery rates of up to 95% of the battery mass. Primobius announced positive lithium recovery results and successful production of battery-grade nickel sulphate in November 2023, with cobalt sulphate being the remaining key product of the recovery process to be tested.

Primobius expanded the capabilities of its facility in Hillenbach, Germany, (at SMS Group’s location) to 10 metric tons per day in March 2022. In addition, the company also stated that it is planning to invest in a new facility after March 2022, with a capacity to process 50 metric tons per day. The location of the site was yet to be decided.

Key customers and partnerships

The company signed two customer partnerships: 1) A binding licensing and option agreements with Stelco, one of North America’s leading steelmakers, in December 2021, to commercialize Primobius’ battery recycling and processing technologies across the North American market and 2) Itochu, a Japanese multinational battery trading company.

In March 2022, Primobius partnered with Mercedes-Benz to license the Primibous recycling technology for the Mercedes-Benz lithium-ion battery recycling plant. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 2,500 tons, recovering materials from spent batteries to reproduce over 50,000 battery modules for the new Mercedes-EQ models. Primobius is in the final stages of front-end engineering work for the recycling plant and anticipates receiving a separate purchase order in September 2023. The installation of the spokes is scheduled to begin in Q4 2023, while commissioning is planned for Q1 2024. In August 2023, the company received an order from the Mercedes-Benz Group to supply a 10-ton-per-day spoke for installation at Kuppenheim in southern Germany. Later in January 2024, the company received another order valued at ~EUR 18.8 million (~USD 20.6 million) from Mercedes-Benz Group for a hydrometallurgical refinery plant to complete its lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

Primobius also partnered with the European Battery Recycling Association and European Battery Alliance to expand its presence in Europe. The company was looking to enter more long-term offtake agreements with players in the lithium-ion battery supply chain to expand its presence globally.