Aqua Metals Inc (AQMS) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Aqua Metals Second Quarter Financial Results Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this conference is being recorded. It's now my pleasure to turn the conference over to your host, Bob Meyers of FNK Investor Relations. Bob, please begin.

下午好，歡迎參加 Aqua Metals 第二季財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興將會議交給東道主 FNK 投資者關係部的鮑勃·邁耶斯 (Bob Meyers)。鮑勃，請開始。

Thank you, operator, and thank you everybody for joining. Earlier today, Aqua Metals issued a press release providing an operational update and discussing financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. This release is available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at aquametals.com. Hosting the call today are Steve Cotton, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Judd Merrill, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝運營商，也謝謝大家的加入。今天早些時候，Aqua Metals 發布了一份新聞稿，提供了截至2023 年6 月30 日的第二季度的營運更新並討論了財務業績。此新聞稿可在該公司網站aquametals.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。今天主持電話會議的是總裁兼執行長 Steve Cotton；和財務長賈德·梅里爾。

Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that during the call, management will be making forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's report on Form 10-K filed March 9 or Form 10-Q filed today, August 9, for a summary of the forward-looking statements and the risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Aqua Metals cautions investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law.

在開始之前，我想提醒與會者，在電話會議期間，管理階層將做出前瞻性陳述。請參閱該公司3 月9 日提交的10-K 表格報告或今天（8 月9 日）提交的10-Q 表格報告，以了解前瞻性陳述以及可能導致實際結果出現重大差異的風險、不確定性和其他因素的摘要從這些前瞻性陳述。 Aqua Metals 提醒投資者不要過度依賴任何前瞻性陳述。除非法律要求，否則本公司不承擔並明確聲明不承擔更新或修改此類聲明以反映新情況或意外事件發生的任何義務。

As a reminder, after the formal remarks, we will be taking questions. Questions will be accepted over the phone from analysts and all other investors can submit a question using the online webcast portal provided in today's and last week's press releases. We will take as many questions as we can in our available time slot. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Steve Cotton, CEO of Aqua Metals. Steve, the call is yours.

提醒一下，正式發言後，我們將接受提問。分析師將透過電話接受提問，所有其他投資者可以使用今天和上週新聞稿中提供的線上網路廣播入口網站提交問題。我們將在可用的時間內回答盡可能多的問題。說到這裡，我想將電話轉給 Aqua Metals 執行長 Steve Cotton。史蒂夫，電話是你的。

Thank you, Bob, and thank you to everyone who joined us today. Aqua Metals continues to make significant progress and has recently marked a number of major milestones towards commercialization of our patented AquaRefining recycling technology. We are delivering tangible results across every critical facet of our business and our vision for the future of the company is coming into clearer focus.

謝謝你，鮑勃，也謝謝今天加入我們的所有人。 Aqua Metals 繼續取得重大進展，最近在我們的 AquaRefining 回收專利技術商業化方面取得了一系列重大里程碑。我們正在業務的每個關鍵方面取得實際成果，我們對公司未來的願景也變得更加清晰。

In recent months, we've advanced our core recycling technology, announced innovative new partnerships, secured a multiyear diversify of raw materials, started linking our first global licensing deal and raised $25 million in new operating capital. So each of these milestones is substantial on its own and taken all together, we are painting a bucket of picture of what sustainable lithium battery recycling company is and how we plan to grow within and transform the electrification and energy storage industry.

近幾個月來，我們推進了核心回收技術，宣布了創新的新合作夥伴關係，確保了原材料的多年多元化，開始連接我們的第一個全球許可協議，並籌集了2500 萬美元的新運營資本。因此，每個里程碑本身都很重要，綜合起來，我們正在描繪什麼是永續鋰電池回收公司以及我們計劃如何在電氣化和能源儲存產業中發展和轉型的藍圖。

During the second quarter, we successfully completed commissioning of our state-of-the-art pilot facility and transition to a 24-hour by 5-day a week operation. We are currently producing high-purity salable quantities of recycled battery materials and what we believe is the first operational sustainable lithium battery recycling facility in the United States. Our patented and patent-pending low-carbon technology is now further demonstrated as both readily scalable and cost-effective compared to other approaches.

第二季度，我們成功完成了最先進的試點設施的調試，並過渡到每週 5 天、24 小時運作。我們目前正在生產高純度、可銷售的回收電池材料，我們相信這是美國第一個營運的可持續鋰電池回收設施。與其他方法相比，我們的專利和正在申請專利的低碳技術現已進一步證明其易於擴展且具有成本效益。

Many companies in this sector are currently building material preprocessing or shredding capacity and beginning to make black mass at scale. Aqua Metals is the first among peers to be taking black mass and actually recycling it into critical materials and high-value products without using polluting furnaces or trainloads of onetime used chemicals. This achievement is the foundation of our future success and is attracting interest from industry leaders and strategic investors around the world. We are actively shaping that future by establishing key partnerships, supply agreements and customer relationships across the battery and EV value chain to capitalize on our demonstrated and continuously operating pilot facility. And that begins with our own supply of materials.

該行業的許多公司目前正在建立材料預處理或粉碎能力，並開始大規模生產黑色物質。 Aqua Metals 是同業中第一家採用黑色物質並將其實際回收為關鍵材料和高價值產品的公司，而不使用污染熔爐或一列曾經使用過的化學物質。這項成就是我們未來成功的基礎，並吸引了全球產業領導者和策略投資者的興趣。我們正在透過在電池和電動車價值鏈上建立關鍵合作夥伴關係、供應協議和客戶關係，利用我們經過驗證且持續營運的試點設施，積極塑造未來。這從我們自己的材料供應開始。

In the second quarter, we contracted for an additional 3,000 tonnes of lithium battery black mass, which is the ground-up mixture of valuable metals from dead batteries that we recycle. This is enough to supply our commercial scale operations and meet customer demand well into 2025, and we continue to build a diverse array of black mass processing partners to ensure a steady supply to fuel our growth and to create deeper partnering opportunities with these key suppliers. While metal prices continue to fluctuate, each ton of black mass is worth roughly $20,000 in the recycled components. So this confirmed supply represents an estimated $60 million in revenue once we recycle it.

第二季度，我們又簽訂了 3,000 噸鋰電池黑料合同，這是我們回收的廢電池中有價值金屬的磨碎混合物。這足以滿足我們的商業規模營運並在2025 年之前滿足客戶需求，我們將繼續建立多元化的黑色大規模加工合作夥伴，以確保穩定的供應來推動我們的成長，並與這些主要供應商創造更深層次的合作機會。儘管金屬價格持續波動，但每噸黑色物質的回收成分價值約為 20,000 美元。因此，一旦我們回收這些已確認的供應，預計將帶來 6000 萬美元的收入。

With our proven capability to produce high purity metals from black mass, next is our growing ecosystem of off-takers and customers for the critical minerals we deliver. During the quarter, we announced a first-of-kind partnership with 6K Energy to develop the next generation of sustainable materials for domestic battery manufacturing. We are executing on our nonrecurring engineering agreement to jointly develop and commercialize our low-carbon battery metal conversion process. We are on schedule to complete that work this year, and the company's plan to jointly pilot this conversion technology in Tennessee next year.

憑藉我們從黑料中生產高純度金屬的成熟能力，接下來是我們所提供的關鍵礦物的承購商和客戶生態系統的不斷發展。本季度，我們宣布與 6K Energy 建立首次合作夥伴關係，共同開發用於國內電池製造的下一代永續材料。我們正在執行我們的一次性工程協議，共同開發我們的低碳電池金屬轉化流程並將其商業化。我們按計劃今年完成這項工作，該公司計劃明年在田納西州聯合試點這項轉換技術。

More importantly, though, 6K plants to use recycled materials from Aqua Metals to feed a 13,000-ton per year PlusCAM manufacturing facility in Jackson, Tennessee, which uses their low-carbon UniMelt plasma technology. We are currently finalizing that long-term agreement to supply thousands of tonnes of high-value critical minerals each year starting in 2025. This is a big deal and central to our commercial growth domestically. PlusCAM is a massive manufacturing facility that will produce capital materials to power millions of electric vehicles, many gigawatt hours per year and the ability to use our recycled content is essential to their operations. Meeting demand for PlusCAM alone will represent the lion's share of recycled material that we produce in Phase 1 of our commercial scale facility and will be a key revenue driver as we ultimately scale our own Tahoe Reno campus to 10,000 tonnes per year.

但更重要的是，6K 工廠將使用 Aqua Metals 的回收材料為位於田納西州傑克遜的年產 13,000 噸的 PlusCAM 製造工廠提供原料，該工廠使用其低碳 UniMelt 等離子技術。我們目前正在敲定一項長期協議，從 2025 年開始每年供應數千噸高價值關鍵礦物。這是一件大事，對我們國內的商業成長至關重要。 PlusCAM 是一家大型製造工廠，將生產資本材料，為數百萬輛電動車提供動力，每年數千兆瓦時，使用我們的回收材料的能力對其運作至關重要。僅滿足PlusCAM 的需求就代表了我們在商業規模設施第一階段生產的回收材料的最大份額，並且隨著我們最終將自己的Tahoe Reno 園區的年產量擴大到10,000 噸，這將成為一個關鍵的收入驅動因素。

But our growth as a company is not limited to recycling that the facilities we build and will operate ourselves, more recently, we announced a new strategic investment in global partnership with South Korea-based Yulho Materials. Yulho is already established as a leading black mass producer in South Korea and is currently building the nation's largest black mass processing facility. South Korea is one of the biggest global markets, the critical battery minerals and is home to some of the world's leading electric vehicle and battery companies, who already supply Yulho with both end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap to convert into black mass.

但我們作為一家公司的發展並不局限於回收我們自己建造和運營的設施，最近，我們宣布了一項新的戰略投資，與韓國的 Yulho Materials 建立全球合作夥伴關係。 Yulho 已成為韓國領先的黑人大規模生產商，目前正在建造韓國最大的黑人大規模加工設施。韓國是全球最大的電池礦物市場之一，也是一些世界領先的電動車和電池公司的所在地，這些公司已經向 Yulho 提供報廢電池和用於轉化為黑色物質的製造廢料。

Yulho Materials has made a $5 million strategic equity investment to help accelerate our commercial growth in the U.S., underscoring their confidence in Aqua Metals' transformative technology and demonstrated results at our pilot scale facility. That in itself is great news. But in addition, Yulho will be our first licensing agreement for our AquaRefining technology for using their own facilities in South Korea. This is a realization of our strategy for future global expansion and will deliver immense benefits for our company and for all of our shareholders.

Yulho Materials 進行了 500 萬美元的策略性股權投資，以幫助加速我們在美國的商業成長，突顯了他們對 Aqua Metals 的變革技術的信心，並在我們的中試規模設施中展示了成果。這本身就是個好消息。但除此之外，Yulho 將成為我們的 AquaRefining 技術的第一個授權協議，以使用他們在韓國的自己的設施。這是我們未來全球擴張策略的實現，將為我們公司和所有股東帶來巨大利益。

We are negotiating final terms and expect the initial licensing agreement to cover up to 100,000 tonnes of material processed each year in South Korea. At an average value of $20,000 a tonne, that represents a $2 billion market opportunity annually that the companies will share it. We expect Yulho will commence with their first AquaRefining in South Korea in 2024-2025, and they plan to embed part of their technical team with Aqua Metals to accelerate the commissioning of their own facility. With their growing partnerships in global EV and battery leaders, Yulho was also poised for success in rapid growth.

我們正在協商最終條款，預計最初的授權協議將涵蓋韓國每年加工的多達 10 萬噸材料。以每噸 20,000 美元的平均價格計算，這意味著這些公司每年將分享 20 億美元的市場機會。我們預計 Yulho 將於 2024 年至 2025 年在韓國開始其首個 AquaRefining，他們計劃將部分技術團隊嵌入 Aqua Metals，以加快其自己設施的調試。隨著與全球電動車和電池領導者的合作關係不斷發展，Yulho 也為快速成長的成功做好了準備。

Beyond this initial license, both companies have also agreed to explore together further expansion in Asia and the European Union as those markets continue to build out global battery and EV manufacturing hub to meet the rapid demand for electrification of the transportation sector. With our innovative recycling process proven at scale and an expanding loss of industry-leading customers for our products and our technology, the next gate in our commercial strategy, we have successfully [diverse] with securing the funding need for our accelerated growth.

除了最初的許可之外，兩家公司還同意共同探索在亞洲和歐盟的進一步擴張，因為這些市場將繼續建造全球電池和電動車製造中心，以滿足運輸業對電氣化的快速需求。隨著我們的創新回收流程得到大規模驗證，以及我們的產品和技術行業領先客戶的不斷流失，這是我們商業策略的下一扇門，我們已經成功地[多元化]，確保了我們加速成長的資金需求。

In addition to the $5 million investment from Yulho last month, we completed a public offering, which raised an additional $20 million and operating capital for the company. This offering was quickly oversubscribed, demonstrating the confidence expressed by investors in our fundamentals and our strategy for Aqua Metals growth going forward. First, this capital we used in part to continue building our first commercial scale facility in 5-acre recycling campus right here in Tahoe Reno, a short distance from our innovation center.

除了上個月 Yulho 的 500 萬美元投資之外，我們還完成了公開發行，為該公司額外籌集了 2,000 萬美元和營運資金。此次發行很快就獲得超額認購，這表明投資者對我們的基本面和 Aqua Metals 未來成長策略充滿信心。首先，我們將部分資金用於在塔霍里諾佔地 5 英畝的回收園區繼續建造我們的第一個商業規模設施，距離我們的創新中心不遠。

Second, this capital is also a necessary component of other non-dilutive funding sources that Aqua Metals is pursuing. As we have previously discussed, Aqua Metals is applying for a loan with very favorable turns guaranteed by the UFDA. And one of the requirements of these types of loans, this necessary capital in hand, which we now have. And similarly, many of the grant and loan application programs managed by the Department of Energy and federal agencies would also have cost share and capital requirements. By raising these funds today, we not only get necessary capital for equipment and operations, but we are also able to access larger funding opportunities in the future, even including traditional debt financing. Our company now has a more robust balance sheet, cash position and overall value because of the investments received, and we are confident this makes Aqua Metals an even stronger company going forward.

其次，這筆資金也是 Aqua Metals 尋求的其他非稀釋性資金來源的必要組成部分。正如我們之前所討論的，Aqua Metals 正在申請由 UFDA 擔保的非常優惠的貸款。這些類型的貸款的要求之一是我們現在擁有的必要的手頭資本。同樣，能源部和聯邦機構管理的許多贈款和貸款申請計劃也有成本分攤和資本要求。透過今天籌集這些資金，我們不僅獲得了設備和營運所需的資金，而且還能夠在未來獲得更大的融資機會，甚至包括傳統的債務融資。由於收到的投資，我們公司現在擁有更穩健的資產負債表、現金狀況和整體價值，我們相信這將使 Aqua Metals 成為一家更強大的公司。

In short, we've made tremendous progress in a short period of time. With the necessary capital in hand to reach commercial scale, new innovative partnerships with (inaudible) and the growing list of industry-first achievements under our belt, we believe there is no stopping our vision of transforming the critical minerals and battery materials industry.

簡而言之，我們在短時間內取得了巨大進步。憑藉實現商業規模所需的必要資本、與（聽不清楚）的新創新合作夥伴關係以及我們所取得的越來越多的行業第一成就，我們相信，我們改變關鍵礦物和電池材料行業的願景不會停止。

In the coming months and the remainder of 2023, you can expect Aqua Metals to continue to make strides, including and not limited to finalizing a multiyear supply agreement with 6K Energy for their PlusCAM facility, shining the first licensing deal with Yulho for AquaRefining technology in South Korea, generating initial revenues on sales of recycled materials at our pilot facility, providing updates on Department of Energy grant and USDA loan funding applications and we will continue to advance construction and commissioning of Phase 1 at our new commercial scale facility with plans to be operational by mid-2024 and reach our target of 3,000 ton per year run rate by the end of 2024.

在接下來的幾個月和2023 年剩餘時間裡，您可以預期Aqua Metals 將繼續取得長足進步，包括但不限於與6K Energy 為其PlusCAM 設施敲定一份多年供應協議，與Yulho 簽訂了第一份AquaRefining 技術許可協議韓國，我們的試點設施透過銷售回收材料產生了初步收入，提供了能源部撥款和美國農業部貸款融資申請的最新信息，我們將繼續推進我們新的商業規模設施第一階段的建設和調試，並計劃在 2024 年中期投入運營，並在 2024 年底達到每年 3,000 噸的目標。

The future of Aqua Metals as a global leader in sustainable battery recycling is coming into clear focus, and we expect to finish 2023 as a commercial company selling the valuable battery minerals that we recover. We are solving difficult challenges in building a truly sustainable energy storage industry that is destined to become as large as oil and gas and ultimately clips it as electrification and decarbonization take hold. And capitalizing on our unique opportunities to pass our peers before they are even up and running.

Aqua Metals 作為永續電池回收領域的全球領導者的未來正在成為人們關注的焦點，我們預計到 2023 年將成為一家商業公司，銷售我們回收的有價值的電池礦物。我們正在解決建立真正永續能源儲存產業的艱鉅挑戰，該產業注定會變得像石油和天然氣一樣龐大，並最終隨著電氣化和脫碳化的發展而縮小。並利用我們獨特的機會在同行啟動並運行之前超越他們。

I look forward to sharing further updates with you all soon, and I'll turn it over to Chief Financial Officer, Judd Merrill, to discuss the results for the second quarter.

我期待著盡快與大家分享更多最新消息，並將其交給財務長賈德·梅里爾 (Judd Merrill)，討論第二季的業績。

Thanks, Steve. Let me start my comments with our balance sheet. As of June 30, 2023, we had total assets of $22 million and working capital of $4 million. We ended the quarter with total cash of approximately $6.2 million. On July 21, 2023, we completed a public offering of approximately 18 million shares resulting in $20 million of gross proceeds. In addition to the capital investment, the company entered into an agreement to execute a license agreement with Yulho. Yulho invested $5 million into Aqua Metals and that money was received last week. Cash on hand and cash received from these transactions totals approximately $30 million of cash available to the company to fortify our balance sheet, enabling the company to find and pursue debt for the first phase of development of our 10,000 ton per year campus facility.

謝謝，史蒂夫。讓我從我們的資產負債表開始我的評論。截至2023年6月30日，我們的總資產為2,200萬美元，營運資金為400萬美元。本季結束時，我們的現金總額約為 620 萬美元。 2023 年 7 月 21 日，我們完成了約 1,800 萬股的公開發行，募集資金總額為 2,000 萬美元。除了資本投資外，該公司還與 Yulho 簽訂了執行許可協議。 Yulho 向 Aqua Metals 投資了 500 萬美元，這筆錢已在上週收到。庫存現金和從這些交易中收到的現金總計約為 3,000 萬美元，可供公司用於強化我們的資產負債表，使公司能夠為我們每年 10,000 噸園區設施的第一階段開發尋找和追償債務。

Also changes on the balance sheet include a reduction in both the lease receivable assets and the ability to purchase deposit liability, both of these went away as we completed the sale of the 2,500 Peru asset, which netted approximately $6 million after paying off the $6 million bridge note without (technical difficulty). There are no other significant changes to our balance sheet since our last quarterly report, so I'll move to the income statement.

資產負債表上的變動還包括租賃應收資產和購買押金負債能力的減少，當我們完成2,500 秘魯資產的出售後，這兩項資產都消失了，在償還600 萬美元後，該資產淨賺了約600 萬美元橋接音符無（技術難度）。自從上一季報告以來，我們的資產負債表沒有其他重大變化，因此我將轉向損益表。

In Q2, we are focused on advancing and executing on our operations at our pilot facility. The costs related to operating this facility were approximately $1.5 million for the quarter. Although no revenue is recognized during the quarter, we did record modest service fees from our development agreement with 6K, and those fees are recorded in other income. Research and development costs were consistent compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Included in R&D expenses are costs related to our agreement with 6K.

在第二季度，我們的重點是推進和執行我們試點設施的運作。本季與營運該設施相關的成本約為 150 萬美元。儘管本季沒有確認任何收入，但我們確實根據與 6K 的開發協議記錄了適度的服務費，這些費用記錄在其他收入中。與截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日的季度相比，研發成本保持一致。研發費用包含與我們與 6K 協議相關的成本。

General and administrative expenses increased approximately 19% for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2022. This was in line with expectations and guidance. Noncash charges included in G&A includes (technical difficulty) approximately $0.6 million.

與截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日的季度相比，截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的季度的一般和管理費用增加了約 19%。這符合預期和指引。 G&A 中包含的非現金費用包括（技術難度）約 60 萬美元。

For the second quarter 2023, we had an operating loss of $4.9 million, compared to an operating loss of $4 million for the same period in 2022. Our net loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, was $4.8 million or a negative $0.06 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of $3.2 million or a negative $0.04 per basic and diluted share for the same period in 2022.

2023 年第二季度，我們的營運虧損為 490 萬美元，而 2022 年同期的營運虧損為 400 萬美元。截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的季度淨虧損為 480 萬美元，每季虧損 0.06 美元。基本基本股和稀釋股的淨虧損為320 萬美元，即每股基本股和稀釋股負0.04 美元。

Moving to the cash flow statement. Cash provided by operating activities for the 6 months ended June 30, 2023, was $5.5 million and includes approximately $12.3 million cash received related to our lease receivable, offset by operating expenses. Net cash used in investing activities for the quarter was $5.5 million. This consisted mainly of $4.3 million utilized towards the purchase of property and equipment.

轉到現金流量表。截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的 6 個月，經營活動提供的現金為 550 萬美元，其中包括與我們的租賃應收款相關的約 1,230 萬美元現金，已被營運費用抵銷。本季投資活動使用的淨現金為 550 萬美元。這主要包括用於購買財產和設備的 430 萬美元。

Net cash used in financing activities was $0.8 million for the quarter. This consisted of $2.8 million in net proceeds from the sale of Aqua Metals shares pursuant to the market offering and $2.9 million in proceeds from the loan agreement secured with Summit Investment, offset by $6 million used to pay off the note payable as noted in Note 11 of our financial statement report.

本季融資活動所使用的現金淨額為 80 萬美元。其中包括根據市場發售出售 Aqua Metals 股票的 280 萬美元淨收益，以及與 Summit Investment 擔保的貸款協議獲得的 290 萬美元收益，並被用於償還附註 11 中所述應付票據的 600 萬美元所抵銷。我們的財務報表報告。

We have bolstered our balance sheet and have managed our operations responsibly. When we include our cash balance and $25 million from the capital raise and the direct investment by Yulho, that we completed subsequent to quarter end, we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund our proposed operating plan through 2024. This would include the commencement of the Phase 1 build-out of our recently acquired 5-acre recycling campus at the TRI Center.

我們加強了資產負債表，並負責任地管理我們的營運。當我們包括我們的現金餘額以及我們在季度末後完成的資本籌集和 Yulho 直接投資中的 2500 萬美元時，我們相信我們有足夠的資本為我們擬議的運營計劃提供資金到 2024 年。這將包括開始我們最近在TRI 中心收購了佔地5 英畝的回收園區，進行第一期擴建。

And with that, that concludes my remarks on the financials. I will now turn it back over to the moderator for Q&A.

至此，我對財務狀況的評論就結束了。我現在將其轉回給主持人進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today is coming from Sameer Joshi from H.C. Wainwright.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 H.C. 的 Sameer Joshi。溫賴特。

It's about the Yulho agreement, is there any revenue sharing once the plant is up and running?

這是關於Yulho協議的，一旦工廠建成並運行，是否有任何收入分成？

So for Yulho, the licensing agreement, we will share in the revenue from that production facility. So as it scales, we will share with them a percentage of that revenue.

因此，對於《Yulho》授權協議，我們將分享該生產設施的收入。因此，隨著規模的擴大，我們將與他們分享一定比例的收入。

So it's like a royalty kind of payment or...

所以這就像一種特許權使用費或...

Exactly. Yes, in the form of licensing royalty. Correct.

確切地。是的，以許可使用費的形式。正確的。

Okay. Is there any...

好的。有沒有...

And that's in additional to the $5 million equity investment they made in the company.

這還不包括他們對該公司進行的 500 萬美元股權投資。

That they already made. Yes. Is there any commitment for Aqua Metals to spend a certain amount to make sure that you -- does what it says it will do.

他們已經做了。是的。 Aqua Metals 是否承諾花費一定金額來確保您——按照其承諾行事。

So the beauty of this arrangement is that the $5 million they've invested is earmarked to help us ensure that we continue to quickly build our facility Phase 1 of our campus environment here. They're going to be sending technical and management folks here to embed with us to help us stand that up and effectively put together the plans for the twin of that in their facility where they're going to have an AquaRefining operation there. So there's really no capital cost to Aqua Metals. And in fact, the $5 million investment really helps support what it is that we're doing here. So that's why that deal was attracted to both parties is that we could both move as quickly as we could. And they could spend the capital in South Korea, while we focus our capital spend here in the U.S. into the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center.

因此，這種安排的美妙之處在於，他們投資的 500 萬美元專門用於幫助我們確保我們繼續在這裡快速建造校園環境的第一階段設施。他們將派技術和管理人員到這裡與我們一起工作，幫助我們站穩腳跟，並有效地制定在他們的工廠中開展 AquaRefining 業務的計劃。因此，Aqua Metals 確實沒有資本成本。事實上，500 萬美元的投資確實有助於支持我們在這裡所做的事情。這就是該交易對雙方都有吸引力的原因，因為我們雙方都可以盡快採取行動。他們可以把資金花在韓國，而我們則把在美國的資本花在塔霍里諾工業中心。

Understood. And just another clarification on that. Is this a license for development within a certain region or up to a certain extent? Like is it up to 100,000 tonnes? And then beyond that it doesn't apply? Or is it applicable to South Korea and maybe Asia. What is the scope?

明白了。對此還有另一個澄清。這是在一定區域內或一定範圍內進行開發的許可嗎？例如達到10萬噸嗎？除此之外它不適用嗎？或者它是否適用於韓國甚至亞洲。範圍是什麼？

Yes. So the tonnage is up to 100,000 tonnes. They're going to start with 8,000 tonnes and then go to 24,000 tonnes in that first facility of theirs. So -- but the 100,000 tonnes is kind of the overall licensing umbrella that we've agreed to with them. We're going to be exploring opportunities even beyond South Korea together because some of their partners that are in South Korea have global deployments and global operations in battery cell manufacturers. And so there are going to potentially be other opportunities, but the licensing arrangement in South Korea really is for the -- up to 100,000 tonnes. And that would equate, by the way, to about $2 billion worth of material being processed for the companies with share.

是的。所以噸位高達10萬噸。他們的第一座工廠的產量將從 8,000 噸開始，然後達到 24,000 噸。所以——但 10 萬噸是我們與他們達成的整體許可協議。我們將共同探索韓國以外的機會，因為他們在韓國的一些合作夥伴在電池製造商中擁有全球部署和全球營運。因此，可能還有其他機會，但韓國的許可安排實際上是針對最多 10 萬噸的。順便說一句，這相當於為擁有股份的公司處理價值約 20 億美元的材料。

Right. Yes. On the 6K Energy front, again, similar questions. Is there any commitment from Aqua Metals to spend a certain amount of money?

正確的。是的。在 6K Energy 方面，也有類似的問題。 Aqua Metals 是否承諾花費一定金額？

So on the 6K Energy deal to date, what we've agreed to is that 6K Energy has been paying Aqua Metals a nonrecurring engineering, or NRE dollars towards our development of this connector technology that allows us to take our pure metals and get them into a specialized slurry concentrate for them so that they can deploy that technology in their Jackson, Tennessee PlusCAM facility that they recently broke ground on. And so that is really the money that's exchanged hands so far. 6K Energy sending money to Aqua Metals to develop that technology. That program is on budget, on time and going very well, expected to wrap up the end of the year, and then move forward with a pilot of that connector technology in their facility as its next step as well as considering offtake arrangements for what we produce in the campus environment Phase I and beyond out here in Tahoe Reno, as well as considering how we get our process closer to their process in Jackson, Tennessee and working out of what that might look like in the longer run. So there's no real capital cost dollars for Aqua Metals. In fact, if anything, we're getting money.

因此，在迄今為止的 6K Energy 交易中，我們同意 6K Energy 一直向 Aqua Metals 支付一次性工程費用或 NRE 美元，用於我們開發這種連接器技術，使我們能夠將純金屬引入為他們提供專門的濃縮漿，以便他們可以在最近破土動工的田納西州傑克遜PlusCAM 工廠中部署該技術。這就是迄今已易手的資金。 6K Energy 向 Aqua Metals 捐款以開發該技術。該計劃在預算之內、按時完成並且進展順利，預計將在今年年底結束，然後作為下一步在他們的工廠中進行該連接器技術的試點，並考慮我們的承購安排。在太浩裡諾的第一階段及以後的校園環境中進行生產，並考慮如何使我們的流程更接近他們在田納西州傑克遜的流程，並研究出從長遠來看可能會是什麼樣子。因此，Aqua Metals 沒有真正的資本成本。事實上，如果有什麼不同的話，那就是我們得到了錢。

Understood. And then just 2 quick ones. Should we expect initial revenue dollars in 3Q or 4Q? And then the second question is, what is the expected burn over the next 2 quarters? Is it around this $5 million range or something else?

明白了。然後只有 2 個快速的。我們應該預期第三季或第四季的初始收入嗎？第二個問題是，未來兩季的預期消耗是多少？是在 500 萬美元左右還是其他？

Yes. So we believe we'll have some small revenues from the pilot plant in this quarter and in the last quarter of this year, the third and fourth quarter. The purpose of the pilot plant to get us ready for the demonstration commercial side, 3,000-ton facility that will generate a lot better revenues. And so we've done that, and so we're starting to build that out. But -- so we'll see some revenues there. The (inaudible) has remained consistent. We've been about on a cash basis for -- our base G&A and operating has been about $900,000 a month. So we're kind of saying budget-wise about $1 million a month for kind of maintaining that cash needs.

是的。因此，我們相信我們將在本季和今年最後一個季度、第三季和第四季從試點工廠獲得一些小額收入。試點工廠的目的是讓我們為示範商業側做好準備，即 3,000 噸設施，這將產生更好的收入。我們已經做到了這一點，並且我們正在開始建造它。但是——所以我們會在那裡看到一些收入。 （聽不清楚）一直保持一致。我們一直以現金為基礎——我們的基本管理費用和營運費用約為每月 90 萬美元。因此，我們的預算是每月約 100 萬美元，用於維持現金需求。

Your next question is coming from Colin Rusch from Oppenheimer.

您的下一個問題來自奧本海默的科林·魯施（Colin Rusch）。

Can you remind us of the CapEx plans for the balance of this year and 2024 to get to the commercial ramp?

您能否提醒我們今年和 2024 年剩餘時間實現商業化的資本支出計畫？

Yes. Thanks, Colin. So that commercial -- sorry, commercial demonstration facility is going to be about a $30 million CapEx need. We started spending a little bit on that already, ordered some long lead time equipment. We're getting -- we're already in there doing some of that work, getting ready for it. But in total, between now and the first part of next year, it will be about a $30 million CapEx spend.

是的。謝謝，科林。因此，商業演示設施的資本支出需求約為 3000 萬美元。我們已經開始在這方面花一點錢，並訂購了一些交貨時間較長的設備。我們已經在做一些工作，並為此做好準備。但從現在到明年上半年，資本支出總計約 3,000 萬美元。

Okay. That's helpful. And then with the debt facility that you're looking at, can you give us a sense of how big the facility you're looking at? And kind of what the spread is kind of penciling out in a rough way versus any of the benchmarks that you may be back to?

好的。這很有幫助。然後，對於您正在考慮的債務融資，您能否讓我們了解您正在考慮的融資規模有多大？與您可能返回的任何基準相比，以粗略的方式列出的價差是多少？

So with what -- can you just repeat that with the...

那麼，你能用什麼重複一次嗎？

The size of the debt facility that you're looking at doing and where you think interest rates shake out on that facility?

您正在考慮實施的債務融資規模有多大？您認為該融資的利率會受到怎樣的影響？

Yes. So this is the debt facility we're looking at with the USDA guaranteed notes. We're getting very close to applying for that. And we think that's probably interest rates below 10%, it's probably closer to 8% on that. And that -- the size of that is $25 million. And then that would be used to fund the $30 million CapEx.

是的。這就是我們正在研究的美國農業部擔保票據的債務融資。我們已經非常接近申請了。我們認為利率可能低於 10%，更接近 8%。其規模為 2500 萬美元。然後，這筆資金將用於資助 3000 萬美元的資本支出。

Okay. And then the final one is just how far along you are in customer conversations and starting to qualify any product that might get used in the battery?

好的。最後一個問題是，您與客戶的對話進展到什麼程度，並開始對可能用於電池的任何產品進行資格認證？

So we've definitely been going through share of materials to battery manufacturers. We -- one of our announced battery manufacturer partners is Dragonfly Energy, which is actually right here in Tahoe Reno developing silicon anode, solid-state, next-generation LFP, lithium iron phosphate batteries. And others that we've shared our materials with, and we've gotten great feedback so far on the high purity and high-quality that people are seeing from the products that we're producing, particularly that lithium in the form of lithium hydroxide. So we've already validated some great progress on customer receptivity to the materials that we're producing, which is quite heartening. In fact, we've been told by one partner that the lithium hydroxide that we provide is the purest lithium hydroxide they've seen even compared to mine materials.

因此，我們肯定一直在與電池製造商共享材料。我們宣布的電池製造商合作夥伴之一是 Dragonfly Energy，該公司實際上正在太浩裡諾開發矽陽極、固態、新一代 LFP、磷酸鐵鋰電池。以及我們與之共享材料的其他人，到目前為止，我們已經收到了人們從我們生產的產品中看到的高純度和高品質的良好反饋，特別是氫氧化鋰形式的鋰。因此，我們已經驗證了客戶對我們生產的材料的接受度方面取得了一些重大進展，這非常令人振奮。事實上，一位合作夥伴告訴我們，我們提供的氫氧化鋰是他們見過的最純的氫氧化鋰，甚至與礦場材料相比也是如此。

I'd like to turn the floor back over to Bob for any web questions.

如果有任何網路問題，我想將發言權交還給鮑伯。

A few questions from the webcast. First, why did Aqua Metals decide to raise equity capital now?

網路直播中的幾個問題。首先，Aqua Metals 為何決定現在要籌集股本？

Okay. Great. So well, first and foremost, our decision to initiate an equity offering for the first time in really 4 years -- over 4 years, was made from a position of strength. The timing aligned seamlessly with our long-term strategy. And that ensures that Aqua Metals remains really at the forefront of our advancement as a company and in the industry. And this capital injection really empowers us to accelerate the phase development plan of our commercial scale campus. It also strategically positions us to seize these imminent growth opportunities. And one of the pivotal benefits of this move is the enhancement of our credit worthiness. As we continue the process that Judd was just talking about to apply for the government programs, including the USDA loan, but along the grants. This capital really serves as a robust financial backstop. And as we all know, that's really a prerequisite that all funding department mandate, you need to show that you have money in order to borrow money.

好的。偉大的。那麼，首先也是最重要的是，我們在 4 年多的時間裡首次決定發起股票發行，這是出於我們的優勢。這個時機與我們的長期策略完美契合。這確保了 Aqua Metals 始終處於我們公司和行業進步的最前沿。此次注資確實使我們能夠加快商業規模園區的階段性開發計畫。它也使我們能夠抓住這些迫在眉睫的成長機會。此舉的關鍵好處之一是提高了我們的信用度。當我們繼續賈德剛才談到的申請政府計劃的過程時，包括美國農業部的貸款，但還有贈款。這筆資金確實可以作為強大的財務後盾。眾所周知，這確實是所有融資部門都規定的先決條件，你需要證明你有錢才能藉錢。

So the confidence level in our financial stability is really now quite bolstered, and that sets us up for success in gaining access to these non-dilutive types of funding sources. Then I'll add when viewed in conjunction with our recent strategic investments, this equity raise is also a testament to our commitment to really being prudent stewards of our balance sheet and keeping it strong and unlocking the opportunities to have access to these additional financing opportunities, but also just be a company with a strong balance sheet as it talks to partners and potential partners. So it really has helped.

因此，我們對金融穩定性的信心現在確實得到了很大的增強，這為我們成功獲得這些非稀釋類型的資金來源奠定了基礎。然後我要補充一點，結合我們最近的策略性投資來看，這次股權融資也證明了我們致力於真正謹慎地管理我們的資產負債表，保持其強勁，並釋放獲得這些額外融資機會的機會，但也只是在與合作夥伴和潛在合作夥伴談判時成為一家擁有強大資產負債表的公司。所以它確實有幫助。

And one more thing I would add is that our recent partnerships combined with our strengthened balance sheet, it really do create a potent formula. We're not just optimistic but we're confident that this sets us up on a continued trajectory of success.

我還要補充的一件事是，我們最近的合作關係加上我們強化的資產負債表，它確實創造了一個有效的公式。我們不僅樂觀，而且相信這將使我們走上持續成功的軌道。

Perfect. Next question. Can you discuss the evolving strategy around both owning and operating a recycling plant and the opportunity around licensing agreements and potential JVs the company is exploring with current and potential partners?

完美的。下一個問題。您能否討論圍繞擁有和營運回收工廠的不斷發展的策略，以及圍繞許可協議和公司正在與當前和潛在合作夥伴探索的潛在合資企業的機會？

Yes, absolutely. Yes. This is critical to understanding the future of Aqua Metals. How we'll grow and evolve in the coming years. And the main highlight here is the flexibility of our strategy and our ability to adapt to the rapidly growing and evolving market and capitalize on those kinds of opportunities. Our core business is owning and operating our own commercial scale, sustainable recycling facilities that are going to be central to our growth as evidenced by our 10,000 tonne per year campus that we're currently developing and building in the Tahoe Reno stained lithium loop right here in Reno, Nevada. But at the same time, we don't want to be limited to sole ownership. So for future AquaRefining campuses and other facilities, we can also develop these alongside partners, black mass supplier partners or even offtake partners, EV manufacturers, cell manufacturers and look at creating joint ventures or even other arrangements.

是的，一點沒錯。是的。這對於了解 Aqua Metals 的未來至關重要。未來幾年我們將如何成長和發展。這裡的主要亮點是我們策略的靈活性以及我們適應快速成長和不斷變化的市場並利用這些機會的能力。我們的核心業務是擁有並經營我們自己的商業規模的可持續回收設施，這些設施將成為我們增長的核心，我們目前正在太浩裡諾染色鋰環路開發和建設的每年10,000 噸的園區就證明了這一點在內華達州里諾市。但同時，我們也不希望僅限於獨家所有權。因此，對於未來的AquaRefining 園區和其他設施，我們還可以與合作夥伴、黑質供應商合作夥伴甚至承購合作夥伴、電動車製造商、電池製造商一起開發這些設施，並考慮創建合資企業甚至其他安排。

We have previously shared that we are in discussions with 6K Energy to jointly develop and operate a pilot on our innovative low-carbon battery materials conversion process. And this structure can work in a number of scenarios, especially in co-located facilities with large battery and CAM or cathode active material or pre-CAM, pre-cathode active material manufacturers. And of course, our exciting announcement with Yulho embodies our licensing strategy because with our technology proven out and demonstrated the ability to scale, the licensing enables us to rapidly and capital efficiently scale this AquaRefining technology globally. And sooner rather than later, there's obviously a distinct financial advantage to licensing arrangements, and that creates another revenue stream for Aqua Metals in the future, in addition to our own operations. And the Aqua Metals can support multiple licensing projects simultaneously yet still keep our core focus, allowing us to expand rapidly in markets systems really otherwise inaccessible to us at this time.

我們之前曾透露，我們正在與 6K Energy 討論共同開發和營運我們創新的低碳電池材料轉換流程的試點。這種結構可以在多種情況下使用，特別是在大型電池和 CAM 或正極活性材料或預 CAM、預正極活性材料製造商位於同一地點的設施中。當然，我們與 Yulho 的激動人心的宣布體現了我們的許可策略，因為隨著我們的技術得到驗證並展示了擴展能力，許可使我們能夠在全球範圍內快速且高效地擴展 AquaRefining 技術。顯然，許可安排遲早會帶來明顯的財務優勢，除了我們自己的業務之外，這還會在未來為 Aqua Metals 創造另一個收入來源。 Aqua Metals 可以同時支援多個授權項目，同時仍保持我們的核心重點，使我們能夠在目前我們無法進入的市場系統中快速擴張。

And I'll add each of these pathways to future growth is equally viable because our groundbreaking technology and demonstrated success to date has gone very well. And so for Aqua Metals, it comes down to identifying the right partners to work with and our expanding loss or industry-leading partners that really reflects our multifaceted growth strategy. So it's not just a singular strategy and it allows us to propagate our technology as quickly as possible. So the right infrastructure gets built rather than putting in smelters and hydro facilities with consumer trainloads of toxic chemicals.

我還要補充一點，這些未來成長的途徑同樣可行，因為我們的突破性技術和迄今為止的成功進展得非常順利。因此，對於 Aqua Metals 來說，歸根結底是要找到合適的合作夥伴以及我們不斷擴大的虧損或業界領先的合作夥伴，這真正反映了我們多方面的成長策略。因此，這不僅僅是一個單一的策略，它使我們能夠盡快傳播我們的技術。因此，需要建立正確的基礎設施，而不是建造含有大量有毒化學物質的冶煉廠和水力設施。

Perfect. And regarding our commercial plan, can you provide an update on the production time line of the new facility at the Waltham site?

完美的。關於我們的商業計劃，您能否提供沃爾瑟姆工廠新工廠生產時間表的最新資訊？

Sure. Happy to. So things are really going great over our commercial campus and progressing so far on time and on budget. We recently started this week concrete demolition for some of the internal structures that we're building to put in a mezzanine level to get more square footage out of the facility. And we've upgraded the electrical and other systems and even put on a nice new paint job on the outside that looks just like the picture that we put out of what the facility will look like as well as the inside. And we also outfitted brand-new office space, which is now already housing several of our engineers, project management function to oversee the build while they're on the site. And equipment is being purchased and moved into the location, and that includes our state-of-the-art R&D lab, which already lives and operates on the campus as well. We moved that from the innovation center, so we would have that R&D lab right there on the campus environment, also supporting the innovations that are just down the street.

當然。高興。因此，我們的商業園區的一切確實進展順利，到目前為止，一切都按時、按預算取得了進展。我們最近開始於本週對我們正在建造的一些內部結構進行混凝土拆除，以放置夾層，以便從設施中獲得更多平方英尺。我們升級了電氣和其他系統，甚至在外部進行了漂亮的新油漆工作，看起來就像我們發布的設施和內部外觀圖片一樣。我們還配備了全新的辦公空間，現在已經容納了我們的幾位工程師，專案管理職能部門負責在現場監督施工。設備正在購買並搬入該地點，其中包括我們最先進的研發實驗室，該實驗室也已經在校園內生活和運作。我們將其從創新中心移走，因此我們將在校園環境中設立研發實驗室，同時也支持街邊的創新。

We also expect that we'll complete the installation and upfitting of the current building really early in '24 and begin commissioning and then introducing black mass input and ramping up the operations at that point in time. Our plan is to ramp to the commercial scale through the second half of '24, which in this building is projected to get to that 3,000 tonnes of run rate of black masking processed as we get towards the end of '24, which is that $60 million a year revenue run rate.

我們也預計，我們將在 24 年初完成目前建築的安裝和裝修，並開始調試，然後引入黑色品質輸入並在那時加快運作。我們的計劃是在 24 年下半年達到商業規模，預計到 24 年底我們將在這座大樓中達到 3,000 噸黑色遮蔽處理的運行速度，即 60 美元年營收運行率達萬元。

With the recent announcement of the successful completion of our pilot, I'll also add that we're able to dedicate our senior engineering team and the senior operations team to the build-out as they've handed over the operations of the innovation center pilot, and they can focus on operating the pilot 24 hours a day, soon to be 7 days a week from 5 days a week, while the engineers and senior operations team did focus on the completion of the first commercial campus.

隨著最近宣布我們的試點項目成功完成，我還要補充一點，我們能夠將我們的高級工程團隊和高級營運團隊專門用於擴建，因為他們已經移交了創新中心的營運試點，他們可以專注於每天24 小時營運試點，很快從每週5 天變為每週7 天，而工程師和高級營運團隊確實專注於第一個商業園區的建成。

Great. And speaking of the pilot plant, there's a few questions around that. Can you talk a little bit about what we're doing with the material that we produce there beyond some of the comments we made in the prepared remarks.

偉大的。說到試點工廠，存在一些問題。除了我們在準備好的演講中發表的一些評論之外，您能否談談我們正在對我們在那裡製作的材料所做的事情。

Yes. So the initial materials that we are producing at the pilot really do have a few purposes. And I've already kind of mentioned that we're already using some of the material for our own testing as well as providing to partners. But we're also stockpiling some of the material to help us commission our commercial scale facility. And that helps to kind of prime the pumps over down the street as we bring that the equipment online soon. And there's -- as I mentioned before, significant demand for samples that we're seeing from all these leading companies across the battery and electric vehicle supply chains because as the first non-smelting or chemical-intensive recycler and really the only technology that's currently operating at scale is an alternative to those.

是的。因此，我們在試點中生產的初始材料確實有幾個目的。我已經提到過，我們已經將一些材料用於我們自己的測試以及提供給合作夥伴。但我們也儲備了一些材料，以幫助我們調試我們的商業規模設施。當我們很快將設備上線時，這有助於啟動街道上的泵浦。正如我之前提到的，我們看到電池和電動車供應鏈中所有這些領先公司對樣品的巨大需求，因為作為第一個非冶煉或化學品密集型回收商，而且實際上是目前唯一的技術大規模營運是這些的替代方案。

We believe that we're the only company that can share representative samples of these recycled materials with these types of manufacturers, which we have been doing. And they're obviously in a rush to secure supplies of critical minerals that are U.S.-based, but also that are sustainably produced, so it's a double whamming. And there's been a lot of demand for those high-purity samples. So that's what we're spending a lot of the efforts on what that pilot is, bringing those folks through, getting them samples and working towards building lasting relationships.

我們相信，我們是唯一一家可以與這些類型的製造商共享這些回收材料的代表性樣品的公司，我們一直在這樣做。他們顯然急於確保關鍵礦物的供應，這些礦物來自美國，而且是可持續生產的，所以這是雙重打擊。這些高純度樣品的需求很大。這就是我們在試點上花費了大量精力的原因，讓這些人通過，為他們提供樣本，並努力建立持久的關係。

And as we build up, lastly, the supplies in sight, we will sell some of those recovered materials. Judd mentioned that earlier in the call today. And we'll make those materials and sell them, and we'll also build up enough supply to justify some of the shipping costs from the pilot because it does lower quantities of production, but still get some actual first revenues from the first sales of sustainably recycled materials in the beginning of this current quarter. So that's a really exciting thing as well for us. But this is, of course, a pilot scale facility and we expect to generate pilot scale revenues, as Judd mentioned, in the near term, but our unique ability to deliver these samples to these strategic partners today to further develop those relationships gives us a real distinct advantage, we believe, in the marketplace. So all the materials that are being produced at our pilot facility are being put to good use.

最後，當我們累積了眼前的供應時，我們將出售其中一些回收的材料。賈德在今天早些時候的電話會議中提到了這一點。我們將製造這些材料並出售它們，我們還將建立足夠的供應來證明試點中的一些運輸成本是合理的，因為它的產量較低，但仍然從首次銷售中獲得一些實際的首次收入本季初可持續回收材料。所以這對我們來說也是一件非常令人興奮的事情。但這當然是一個試點規模的設施，正如賈德所提到的，我們預計在短期內會產生試點規模的收入，但我們今天向這些戰略合作夥伴提供這些樣品以進一步發展這些關係的獨特能力使我們能夠我們相信，在市場上具有真正獨特的優勢。因此，我們試點工廠生產的所有材料都得到了充分利用。

Anyone can come and see them if they like. We've had people come through and see it with their own 2 eyes, the metals and the lithium products that we're generating. And we're using the pilot to not only get ready for the commercial plant but to advance those commercial interests and partnerships and generate some additional revenues for the company while we're at it.

如果願意，任何人都可以來看他們。我們讓人們親眼目睹了我們正在生產的金屬和鋰產品。我們利用該試點不僅為商業工廠做好準備，而且還促進這些商業利益和合作夥伴關係，並在我們投入使用的同時為公司創造一些額外收入。

Great. Moving on, can you provide some granularity on the differences between Aqua Metals technology as compared to some of our competitors who have been afforded much higher valuations?

偉大的。接下來，您能否詳細介紹一下 Aqua Metals 技術與我們的一些更高估值的競爭對手之間的差異？

So AquaRefining is very differentiated in that we've decarbonized the process because we generate a tiny fraction order of magnitude amount of CO2. And that's because if you're smelting and burning the batteries, you're creating massive quantities of CO2 greenhouse gas, in fact, by weight, believe it or not, more greenhouse gas than black mass processed. The hydro gets a little bit better with the hydrometallurgical processes, but they still generate nearly triple the amount in weight of CO2 in the form of CO2 gas. We capture the carbon and don't create CO2 gas with our process. And that carbon can get actually put into a reuse scenario like with cement and things like that. But the key portion of that is, it doesn't go into the air. And that's the gas side and the greenhouse gas side equation.

因此，AquaRefining 的與眾不同之處在於我們已經實現了流程脫碳，因為我們產生的二氧化碳量很小。這是因為，如果你熔煉和燃燒電池，你就會產生大量的二氧化碳溫室氣體，事實上，無論你相信與否，以重量計算，溫室氣體比加工的黑色物質還要多。隨著濕式冶金製程的發展，水力發電的情況有所改善，但它們仍以二氧化碳氣體的形式產生近三倍重量的二氧化碳。我們透過我們的製程捕獲碳並且不產生二氧化碳氣體。這些碳實際上可以被投入到再利用場景中，例如水泥之類的東西。但其中的關鍵部分是，它不會進入空氣中。這就是氣體方面和溫室氣體方面的方程式。

We regenerate the chemicals in our process using electricity. That's very unique to Aqua Metals as compared to the other folks are out there. And what that means is that we don't have to bring in trainloads of caustic chemicals on the front end to go through more like traditional mining processes of leaching that then create a back-end challenge of a waste stream of sodium sulfate. And the sodium sulfate is as a percentage of the wage of the materials that come in, whether it's [pyro] or hydro is very high, if not equal to, the amount of material that's being processed to begin within our process because we use the electricity as the reagent to drive the process rather than chemicals and fire, we regenerate the chemicals that we use and we create 0 sodium sulfate.

我們使用電力來再生製程中的化學品。與其他公司相比，Aqua Metals 的這一點非常獨特。這意味著我們不必在前端引入大量腐蝕性化學物質來經歷更像傳統浸出採礦過程的過程，從而產生硫酸鈉廢物流的後端挑戰。硫酸鈉佔進來的材料的工資的百分比，無論是[熱解]還是水力，都非常高，如果不等於，在我們的流程中開始處理的材料量，因為我們使用電力作為驅動過程的試劑，而不是化學物質和火，我們再生我們使用的化學品，並產生0 硫酸鈉。

So that's advantageous to us as a planet and as a species and multiple species because we're not wasting the atmosphere and creating a bunch of solid waste streams. But we also have improved economics because we don't have to spend all that money in all those chemicals. We don't have to buy a bunch of fossil fuels. We don't have to spend millions of dollars on crystallization systems to create sodium sulfate crystals that just get thrown into the landfill of the ocean, let alone, the transport costs, et cetera. So it's a very different approach. And that is our differentiator. And why these other companies have disparate valuations to us is up to the market. And we do believe that as we are steadily trotting along and producing materials that we're going to see a little bit of adjustments in those tides of valuations. It can't be as disfare as it is for much longer in our opinion.

因此，這對我們作為一個星球、一個物種和多個物種來說是有利的，因為我們不會浪費大氣層並產生一堆固體廢物流。但我們的經濟效益也得到了改善，因為我們不必在所有這些化學物質上花費那麼多錢。我們不必購買一堆化石燃料。我們不必花費數百萬美元購買結晶系統來製造硫酸鈉晶體，然後將其扔進海洋垃圾掩埋場，更不用說運輸成本等等了。所以這是一種非常不同的方法。這就是我們的與眾不同之處。為什麼這些其他公司對我們的估值不同取決於市場。我們確實相信，隨著我們穩步前進並生產材料，我們將看到估值浪潮出現一些調整。在我們看來，這種差距不會持續太久。

Great. And then we have a 2-part question on partnerships. Do the partnerships announced to date preclude you from doing licensing deals with other companies? And what does the landscape look like for additional partners?

偉大的。然後我們有一個關於夥伴關係的問題，分成兩部分。迄今為止宣布的合作夥伴關係是否會妨礙您與其他公司進行許可交易？對於其他合作夥伴來說，前景如何？

So the landscape is really exciting because we're talking to players from every aspect of the ecosystem ranging from black mass suppliers to offtake partners that are making cathode active materials like a 6K Energy to cell manufacturers discussions directly to EV manufacturers that are verticalizing that want to have control of those minerals and close their own loop on that. So we are evaluating each partnership and making sure that we set up our -- I would call it our dance card, so we have the right mix of partnerships. So we're taking the time while we have the pilot operating and why we're meeting with all these folks to make sure that we allocate the best result of partnering for us and for our shareholders really and also ensure that we don't get tied up in any sort of a scenario where we can't operate one function of our business if we partner too strongly with one particular entity.

因此，這一前景確實令人興奮，因為我們正在與生態系統各個方面的參與者進行交談，從黑色大規模供應商到生產陰極活性材料（如6K Energy）的承購合作夥伴，到電池製造商直接討論，再到正在垂直化這一需求的電動車製造商。控制這些礦物並關閉它們自己的循環。因此，我們正在評估每個合作夥伴關係，並確保我們建立我們的東西——我將其稱為我們的舞蹈卡，以便我們擁有正確的合作夥伴組合。因此，我們在試點運行期間花時間，以及為什麼我們要與所有這些人會面，以確保我們真正為我們和我們的股東分配最佳的合作結果，並確保我們不會得到如果我們與某個特定實體的合作過於緊密，我們就無法經營我們業務的一項功能，這與任何一種情況有關。

Our goal, both economically and altruistically is to propagate AquaRefining technology as quickly as possible and get it in the hands of not only our own cells, but in the hands of partners that can help capitalize and deploy the -- empowered environmentally superior suite of technologies, which, by the way, is far better for worker safety. Because you don't walk into work every day to the health scape of smelting or with a hot suit or of a chemical suit to do the standard hydro processes. And so we want to create those kinds of jobs from our process as well and get that technology into the hands of others, but yet not constrain ourselves.

我們的目標，無論是經濟上還是無私上，都是盡快傳播 AquaRefining 技術，不僅讓我們自己的細胞掌握它，而且讓合作夥伴掌握這些技術，幫助他們利用和部署這一環境優越的技術套件。順便說一下，這對於工人的安全來說要好得多。因為您不會每天走進工作場所，欣賞冶煉的健康景象，也不會穿著熱防護服或化學防護服來執行標準的氫化過程。因此，我們也希望透過我們的流程創造此類就業機會，並將該技術交到其他人手中，但又不限制我們自己。

Great. A little bit of an extension. What are the prospects for Aqua Metals becoming a contracted recycling provider for the large automobile manufacturers? And are we talking to Tesla and other brands?

偉大的。有點延伸。 Aqua Metals 成為大型汽車製造商的簽約回收供應商的前景如何？我們正在與特斯拉和其他品牌交談嗎？

So the -- what that question is about is kind of like a -- what I would call tolling. So merchant businesses where you're buying the black mass feedstock, your input supply and then processing it your own costs and then selling that offtake to others. What this question is about is our willingness and ability to do tolling arrangements. And particularly, EV manufacturers, it certainly may make sense because they get that material back and that they want to close their loop and are looking for -- some of them are looking for suppliers that can help them do that.

所以這個問題有點像我所說的收費。因此，在商業企業中，您購買黑色原料、您的投入供應，然後以您自己的成本進行加工，然後將其出售給其他人。這個問題是關於我們進行收費安排的意願和能力。特別是對於電動車製造商來說，這當然可能是有意義的，因為他們收回了這些材料，並且他們想要關閉他們的循環並正在尋找- 其中一些正在尋找可以幫助他們做到這一點的供應商。

And that's something that we see great opportunity with our existing black mass and even offtake partners such as a 6K energy that together we can toll that for those EV manufacturers and show that chain custody of when those batteries come back, they get cleanly crushed and converted to black mass, go to a process, which is a lithium of refining process instead of a smelting or a hydro process that makes that environmental mess. They get the benefit of those materials on the back end, going through a cathode active material manufacturers such as the 6K Energy, and then back into their streams. So we see that type of opportunity, and those are the very types of things that we're talking to some of these folks about.

我們看到了與我們現有的黑色品質甚至承購合作夥伴（例如6K energy）的巨大機會，我們可以一起為那些電動車製造商收費，並表明當這些電池回來時，它們會被乾淨地壓碎和轉換的連鎖保管對於黑色物質，要進行一個過程，即鋰精煉過程，而不是冶煉或水力過程，這些過程會造成環境混亂。他們在後端獲得這些材料的好處，透過 6K Energy 等陰極活性材料製造商，然後回到他們的流中。所以我們看到了這種類型的機會，而這些正是我們正在與其中一些人談論的事情。

I can say that each significant major deal that we anticipate doing is going to have its own unique aspects. And that goes back to the prior question to where we got to make sure that when we do one deal, we don't constrain ourselves from doing other deals so we can continue to propagate the technology and not allow anyone to tie it up.

我可以說，我們預計要做的每項重大交易都將有其獨特的方面。這又回到了先前的問題，即我們必須確保當我們進行一項交易時，我們不會限制自己進行其他交易，這樣我們就可以繼續傳播該技術，並且不允許任何人捆綁它。

A couple more here. A couple related to grants and just to clarify for folks. Do you expect to be eligible for other sources of government grants through the DOE and the USDA? And maybe we could just provide an update to clarify a few questions.

這裡還有幾個。有些與贈款有關，只是為了向人們澄清。您是否期望有資格透過美國能源部和美國農業部獲得其他來源的政府撥款？也許我們可以提供更新來澄清一些問題。

Yes. So we not only expect to be eligible. We've read some of the language that that's coming out in some of the pullets for both IRA and the build back better plan. And we believe that we're like very good fits for the DOE next round. And we actually believe that, that's very, very soon that will be seen that come out to the point where our Chief Business Officer, Dave McMurtry, and others of our team are spending a significant amount of their time working on making sure that we are ready and able to apply for these grants. We've hired a consulting firm out of Washington, D.C. that's done these grants before for other companies. We're very familiar with the process. They are working for us and hoping with us and getting us prepared to apply for those brands. So we're going to be very, very aggressive.

是的。所以我們不僅期望有資格。我們已經閱讀了 IRA 和重建更好計劃的一些小母雞中出現的一些語言。我們相信我們非常適合能源部下一輪。事實上，我們相信，很快就會看到這樣的情況，我們的首席商務官戴夫·麥克默特里 (Dave McMurtry) 和我們團隊的其他成員將花費大量時間來確保我們準備好並能夠申請這些補助金。我們聘請了華盛頓特區的一家顧問公司，該公司之前曾為其他公司提供這些資助。我們非常熟悉這個過程。他們正在為我們工作，希望與我們合作，讓我們做好申請這些品牌的準備。所以我們會非常非常積極。

We think that right now, there's an opportunity that hasn't been there before. And so we're going to take advantage of that and work to get these brands. In addition to that, we did apply for -- these grants are like in the $50 million plus range. So these are very significant amounts. In addition to that, we did apply for a grant related to our recycling process, mainly around the lithium side earlier this year, it's a $5 million. And so we'll be waiting to hear back on that one as well. So that's an important piece. But we're also familiar with as we talked about the USDA, with programs they have, there's some other programs that we think we're eligible for, we're also looking at tax credits, there's a production credit, and capitalization credit that we think we qualify for it, it will apply for in 2024. We think that's a good timing that changes. We'll look at what that looks like, but those are coming up. We applied for tax abatements that are specific to the state of Nevada. So we're very -- spending a lot of time trying to make sure that those things are available to Aqua Metals as well.

我們認為現在有一個以前沒有過的機會。因此，我們將利用這一點並努力獲得這些品牌。除此之外，我們確實申請了——這些補助金大約在 5000 萬美元以上。所以這些都是非常重要的金額。除此之外，今年稍早我們確實申請了與回收流程相關的撥款，主要是圍繞鋰方面，金額為 500 萬美元。因此，我們也將等待這項訊息的回應。所以這是一個重要的部分。但當我們談論美國農業部時，我們也很熟悉他們的計劃，還有一些我們認為我們有資格獲得的其他計劃，我們也在考慮稅收抵免，有生產抵免和資本化抵免我們認為我們有資格獲得它，它將在2024 年申請。我們認為這是一個改變的好時機。我們會看看它是什麼樣子，但這些即將出現。我們申請了內華達州特有的減稅。所以我們花了很多時間來確保 Aqua Metals 也能使用這些東西。

Perfect. Kind of a new question here. How does your cost of recycling compare to mining? And what do you see in the future?

完美的。這是一個新問題。與採礦相比，您的回收成本如何？您對未來有何看法？

So it's quite interesting because the cost per tonne of material produced when you're mining high-grade materials such as black mass, is significantly less. So that puts us at a really interesting cost advantageous perspective of being able to urban mine that "high-grade ore" of that black mass material. So that is an advantage that we have over the mining in terms of our cost envelope that will obviously very much help us. And in the longer run, as students of history of the battery industry, if you take a lead-acid battery today, that you bought and analyzed what percentage of that material came out of old batteries, it's about 90% in the U.S. -- 80% to 90% globally. And the rest of it came from mine materials.

所以這很有趣，因為當你開採黑色物質等高級材料時，每噸材料的成本要低得多。因此，這使我們處於一個非常有趣的成本優勢視角，能夠在城市中開採這種黑色物質的「高品位礦石」。因此，就成本範圍而言，這是我們相對於採礦業的優勢，這顯然對我們有很大幫助。從長遠來看，作為電池行業歷史的學生，如果你今天購買一塊鉛酸電池，並分析其中有多少百分比的材料來自舊電池，在美國大約有 90%——全球80%到90%。其餘的都來自我的材料。

Right now in the lithium world, close to 0% of that material is recycled. Certainly, the lithium has been recycled successfully yet until we've been doing it really. And so that gives us a vision in the future where what we want the world to get to is the point where we dug the stuff out of the earth once, and now we're using it perpetually over and over and over again. And then now you're only mining to feed the growth. And then overall you're reducing the cost of per kilowatt hour of storage of battery energy storage because you can continuously recycle and reuse that material on a more cost-effective basis than mining. So it will take some time for the industry to get there. But recycling is really the linchpin for us to get from where we are today as a society to a closed loop battery age society that's infinitely recycling all these critical minerals.

目前，在鋰世界，該材料的回收率接近 0%。當然，在我們真正做到這一點之前，鋰已經成功回收。因此，這給了我們一個未來的願景，我們希望世界達到的目標是我們曾經從地球上挖出這些東西，現在我們一遍又一遍地永久使用它。然後現在你只是為了滿足成長而挖礦。總體而言，您可以降低每千瓦時電池儲能的成本，因為您可以比採礦更經濟地持續回收和再利用該材料。因此，該行業還需要一些時間才能實現這一目標。但回收確實是我們從今天的社會走向閉環電池時代社會的關鍵，無限地回收所有這些關鍵礦物質。

Perfect. And I know we're running out of time, but one quick question here that's a little different. Will your clients be able to apply for renewable energy credits for using your products versus other more hazardous or polluting product processes.

完美的。我知道我們的時間不多了，但這裡有一個有點不同的簡單問題。您的客戶是否能夠因使用您的產品而不是其他更危險或污染的產品流程而申請再生能源信用額？

So that is a really interesting question. We are looking into that. Tesla, for example, got paid by the other auto manufacturers for their -- they got subsidies basically from the other manufacturers for some years. We see opportunity there as we are fully decarbonized and we might have the ability to monetize that but we haven't confirmed that as of yet, but we're certainly -- we certainly have our eyes on that opportunity.

這是一個非常有趣的問題。我們正在調查此事。例如，特斯拉獲得了其他汽車製造商的報酬——多年來，他們基本上從其他製造商那裡獲得了補貼。我們看到了那裡的機會，因為我們已經完全脫碳，我們可能有能力將其貨幣化，但我們尚未證實這一點，但我們當然 - 我們當然關注這個機會。

I will add one other comment there is that because we are net-zero in our approach to get to a net-zero capability with -- getting to that 100% renewable energy, 100% carbon-free, we're that part of the supply chain for all these players. And so by working the materials through an Aqua Metals process and the partners that we work with that are also electrically based and clean on the black mass production and on the cathode active material production, together we can be the Scope 1 case. The supply chain accretive benefits to EV manufacturers and cell manufacturers, et cetera. So that is a real advantage that we can bring to the table from that perspective.

我要補充的另一條評論是，因為我們的方法是實現淨零能力，即獲得 100% 可再生能源、100% 無碳，所以我們是所有這些參與者的供應鏈。因此，透過 Aqua Metals 製程處理材料，以及與我們合作的合作夥伴（這些合作夥伴也是基於電力且清潔的黑色大規模生產和陰極活性材料生產），我們可以共同成為範圍 1 案例。供應鏈為電動車製造商和電池製造商等帶來了增值效益。因此，從這個角度來看，這是我們可以帶來的真正優勢。

We've reached at the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Steve for any further or closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束了。我想將發言權交還給史蒂夫，以徵求進一步或結束評論的意見。

Well, thanks again, everyone, for your time and attention today, and we're rapidly advancing our operational and commercial initiatives as you've heard today on a global scale, and it's a really exciting time for Aqua Metals, and we look forward to providing continued updates and our continued progress. And in the meantime, if anybody has questions, you can always go to our website and see -- in the media section, we have a blog, and that has a lot of up-to-date information and videos and things like that. You can also contact us directly, as well as, of course, at FNK IR. Thanks again, everybody.

好吧，再次感謝大家今天的時間和關注，正如您今天所聽到的，我們正在全球範圍內快速推進我們的營運和商業計劃，這對Aqua Metals 來說是一個非常激動人心的時刻，我們期待著提供持續的更新和我們的持續進步。同時，如果有人有疑問，您可以隨時訪問我們的網站並查看 - 在媒體部分，我們有一個博客，其中有很多最新資訊和視頻以及類似的內容。您也可以直接聯絡我們，當然也可以透過 FNK IR 聯絡我們。再次感謝大家。

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.

謝謝。今天的電話會議和網路廣播到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。我們感謝您今天的參與。