Neometals announce Successful ‘Proof of Concept’ Battery Cycle testing of Lithium Titanate

Neometals Ltd {ASX: NMT} announced results from lithium battery cycling test work demonstrating the superior performance characteristics of its Lithium Titanate anode material. 

 In 2017, the Company engaged a leading US test facility to commence 100‐cycle cycle testing of coin cell batteries using Lithium Titanate (“LTO”) anode material made by the Company at the CSIRO.  

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Successful ‘Proof of Concept’ Battery Cycle testing of   
Lithium Titanate 

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Neometals Ltd {ASX: NMT} is pleased to announce results from lithium battery cycling test work demonstrating the superior performance characteristics of its Lithium Titanate anode material.  In 2017, the Company engaged a leading US test facility to commence 100‐cycle cycle testing of coin cell batteries using Lithium Titanate (“LTO”) anode material made by the Company at the CSIRO.

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Lithium Titanate is a leading anode (negative electrode) material, which can replace
graphite.  Its primary advantage over graphite is the surface area of the anode of LTO
being around 100 square metres per gram in contrast to typically 3 square metres for
graphite.  The enlarged surface area enables electronsto enter and leave the anode much
more rapidly, leading to ultrafast recharging, enhanced battery life and enhanced safety
performance (practical elimination of thermal runaway).

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Trial material was made from commercial reagents and future test programs will test
material made from compounds produced from the Company’s Barrambie Titanium
Project and Mt Marion Lithium Operation. Performance of anode material is expected to
improve with increased grade of raw material and finer particle size.

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Test Results
‐ Two LTO samples made via different methods held higher voltage and current at start
and end of 100 cycles (425 hrs) as compared to commercially available LTO:
‐  Comparative Loss in Capacity in one sample was highly superior to commercially
available LTO.
The conceptual plan is to develop a process producing a superior Lithium Titanate anode
material from feedstocks generated from the Company’s captive resources.

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The Company is developing multiple positions further down the Lithium‐Ion Battery supply
chain, consistent with its strategy to maximise returns from existing and future operations
by producing higher value products.  The Company’s lithium strategy is represented in the
following illustration.

 

Next Steps
The Company recognises the importance of using long‐term cycling data in order to
characterise the sustainability of battery performance and plans future cell testing of
Barrambie/Mt Marion based LTO materials to be scaled up to 500 cycles.

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Subject to technical opinions the Company will seek protection of IP and commence discussions with potential commercialisation partners.

 

ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Chris Reed
Managing Director
Neometals Ltd
+61 8 9322 1182
info@neometals.com.au