Aqua Metals Inc (AQMS) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Aqua Metals first quarter financial results call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation.

下午好，歡迎參加 Aqua Metals 第一季財務業績電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。正式演講結束後將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference call over to our host Bob Meyers of FNKIR. You may begin.

請注意，本次會議正在錄製。現在，我將電話會議交給 FNKIR 的主持人 Bob Meyers。你可以開始了。

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 first quarter ended March 30, 2025.

謝謝接線生，也謝謝大家的參與。今天早些時候，Aqua Metals 發布了一份新聞稿，提供了營運更新並討論了截至 2025 年 3 月 30 日的第一季的財務業績。

This release is available in the investor relations section on the company's website at aquametals.com. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that during the call, management will be making forward-looking statements.

本新聞稿可至本公司網站 aquametals.com 的投資人關係版查詢。在開始會議之前，我想提醒各位與會者，管理階層將在電話會議上做出前瞻性陳述。

Please refer to the company's report on Form 10Q filed today, May 8th 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.

請參閱本公司於今天（5 月 8 日）提交的 10Q 表報告，以了解前瞻性陳述的摘要以及可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述有重大差異的風險、不確定性和其他因素。

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.

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否認任何更新或修改此類聲明以反映新情況或意外事件的義務。

As a reminder, after the formal remarks, we will be taking questions. Questions will be accepted on the call from analysts, and all other investors can submit a question using a webcast portal provided in todays and earlier press releases.

提醒一下，正式發言後，我們將回答問題。分析師將在電話會議上提出問題，所有其他投資者可以使用今天和之前的新聞稿中提供的網路廣播入口網站提交問題。

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.

我們將在可用的時間內盡可能回答問題，然後我想將電話轉給 Aqua Metals 執行長 Steve Cotton。史蒂夫，你來決定。

Thank you, Bob, and thank you all for joining us today. I'm pleased to report on what has been an important first quarter for Aqua Metals as we continue to execute on our mission to build a low cost, resilient domestic battery materials supply chain.

謝謝你，鮑勃，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我很高興地報告，對於 Aqua Metals 來說，第一季是重要的一個季度，我們繼續執行我們的使命，建立低成本、有彈性的國內電池材料供應鏈。

It's been just over a month since our last call, but there are some important updates that we'll discuss today. Joining me today are Judd Merrill, our Chief Financial Officer, and Eric West, our incoming CFO. Judd will be making remarks on our Q1 results and answering questions today, and then we'll begin transitioning from his role to Eric later this month and will continue as a consultant through August.

距離我們上次通話已經過了一個多月，但今天我們將討論一些重要的更新。今天與我一起出席的還有我們的財務長 Judd Merrill 和即將上任的財務長 Eric West。賈德今天將對我們的第一季業績發表評論並回答問題，然後我們將在本月晚些時候開始將他的角色過渡到埃里克，並將繼續擔任顧問直至八月。

We'll speak more on that shortly. So, let's begin with our operational updates, starting with what we have accomplished to build and adaptive platform for critical minerals recovery. In Q1, we achieved three key technical and operational milestones that positioned us at the forefront of battery recycling innovation.

我們很快會就此進行更多討論。那麼，讓我們從營運更新開始，首先介紹我們為關鍵礦物回收所取得的成就以及建構的適應性平台。在第一季度，我們實現了三個關鍵的技術和營運里程碑，使我們處於電池回收創新的前沿。

First, our product line expansion. We produced initial samples of nickel carbonate and mixed hydroxide precipitate, or MHP, which align with our developing downstream partners' needs. These are not just technical wins. They unlock new revenue opportunities and enhance our developing customer and partner value proposition.

首先，我們的產品線擴展。我們生產了碳酸鎳和混合氫氧化物沉澱物（MHP）的初始樣品，這符合我們正在發展的下游合作夥伴的需求。這些不僅僅是技術上的勝利。它們釋放了新的收入機會並增強了我們正在發展的客戶和合作夥伴的價值主張。

Second, our LFP recycling breakthrough. We completed a successful engineering analysis and then lab and bench scale demonstration for lithium recovery from LFP batteries. As many of LFP or lithium iron phosphate is poised to dominate both EV and stationary storage markets. Importantly, our process can handle a blend of 50% NMC or nickel manganese's cobalt and 50% LFP input, effectively doubling our lithium carbonate output and improving project economics.

第二，我們的LFP回收利用取得了突破。我們完成了成功的工程分析，並完成了 LFP 電池鋰回收的實驗室和台架規模演示。由於許多 LFP 或磷酸鐵鋰有望主導電動車和固定儲存市場。重要的是，我們的製程可以處理 50% NMC 或鎳錳鈷和 50% LFP 輸入的混合物，從而有效地使我們的碳酸鋰產量翻倍並提高專案經濟性。

Third, our purity and performance advancements. We have continued to improve our battery grade lithium carbonate assays to meet specific and stringent potential customer specifications which further strengthen our position as a trusted domestic supplier.

第三，我們的純度和性能的進步。我們不斷改進電池級碳酸鋰的檢測方法，以滿足特定且嚴格的潛在客戶規範，從而進一步鞏固了我們作為值得信賴的國內供應商的地位。

So in short, as market needs evolve, so does Aqua Metals. We are continuously advancing our technology and adjusting our overall business and commercialization strategy to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that we see ahead.

簡而言之，隨著市場需求的發展，Aqua Metals 也不斷發展。我們不斷推進技術進步，調整整體業務和商業化策略，以應對挑戰並抓住未來的機會。

So now turning to our site strategy, we have entered into an agreement to sell the Sierra ARC property. This strategic move allows us to retire all of our debt, generate meaningful cash reserves, and reduce our holding costs by approximately $100,000 per month. This decision is about resilience and flexibility. We are aligning our capital deployment with today's market environment characterized by lower lithium prices, uncertainty in our industry, and the tighter capital markets.

現在轉向我們的站點策略，我們已經達成出售 Sierra ARC 財產的協議。這項策略性舉措使我們能夠償還所有債務，產生可觀的現金儲備，並每月減少約 10 萬美元的持有成本。這個決定與彈性和靈活性有關。我們正在根據當今的市場環境調整我們的資本配置，其特點是鋰價較低、產業不確定性以及資本市場收緊。

By lightening our footprint now, we gain the freedom to evaluate more cost-efficient locations, ideally near the feedstock and offtake sources for which we are developing, which could both lower CapEx and introduce meaningful OPEX efficiencies as we advance towards commercial deployment. We remain fully committed to building our first commercial arc, and we're actively engaged with our potential supply, offtake, and funding partners to determine the best path forward.

透過減輕我們的足跡，我們可以自由地評估更具成本效益的地點，理想情況下是靠近我們正在開發的原料和供應源，這既可以降低資本支出，又可以在我們向商業部署邁進時引入有意義的營運支出效率。我們將繼續全力致力於建立我們的第一個商業弧線，並積極與我們的潛在供應、承購和融資合作夥伴合作，以確定最佳的前進道路。

Switching now to the leadership front, as I mentioned earlier, Judd Merrill will transition from CFO on May 16th after several years of dedicated service. Judd, we really sincerely thank you for all of your commitment and leadership through the transformative times, and we all wish you the best on your next venture.

現在轉到領導層，正如我之前提到的，經過多年的專注服務，賈德·梅里爾 (Judd Merrill) 將於 5 月 16 日卸任首席財務官。賈德，我們由衷感謝您在變革時期的所有承諾和領導，我們都祝福您在接下來的事業中一切順利。

And directly related to Judd's departure, we are pleased to welcome Eric West as our incoming CFO effective May 19th. As many of you listening already know, Eric has six years of experience with Aqua Metals through his prior role, including VP of finance, and we are also grateful that he has agreed to return to the company in the CFO role and have every confidence in his ability to help lead us into this next phase. Judd will also ask Eric to introduce himself in a moment.

與賈德離職直接相關的是，我們很高興歡迎 Eric West 擔任我們的新任財務官，該任命將於 5 月 19 日生效。許多聽眾已經知道，艾瑞克曾在 Aqua Metals 擔任六年的職務，包括財務副總裁，我們也非常感謝他同意重返公司擔任財務官，並且完全相信他有能力帶領我們進入下一個階段。賈德一會兒還會請埃里克做自我介紹。

So, to summarize my comments as we look ahead, Aqua Metals is first expanding and adapting its product portfolio and commercial plant economic model to match market conditions and where the critical minerals market is heading.

因此，總結我的評論，展望未來，Aqua Metals 首先擴大和調整其產品組合和商業工廠經濟模式，以適應市場條件和關鍵礦產市場的發展方向。

Second, managing capital prudently and adapting our strategy to strengthen our already well proven resilience as a company and third, aligning the right leadership to deliver on our goals, including the previously announced recent additions to our board of directors adding key commercial and financial market expertise.

第二，審慎管理資本並調整我們的策略，以增強我們作為一家公司已經得到充分證明的韌性；第三，協調合適的領導層來實現我們的目標，包括先前宣布的最近加入我們董事會的董事，增加關鍵的商業和金融市場專業知識。

We are operating with a clear eye on long term value creation, making the right moves at the right times to build a flexible, high-performance business and maintain that resilience as we have to date. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Judd to walk through the financials. After that, we'll open the call for Q&A.

我們在營運過程中始終著眼於長期價值創造，在正確的時間採取正確的舉措，打造靈活、高效的業務，並維持迄今為止的韌性。因此，我將把時間交給賈德來介紹財務狀況。之後，我們將開始問答環節。

Thanks, Steve. First, this being my last call as the CFO of the company, I want to take a moment to thank the shareholders, stakeholders, my colleagues, the board. And Steve, for the trust and support in my role here over the last 6.5 years. Sometimes though, opportunity knocks, and I have taken a new role in a competitive company to be announced soon.

謝謝，史蒂夫。首先，這是我作為公司財務長的最後一次發言，我想藉此機會感謝股東、利害關係人、我的同事和董事會。還有史蒂夫，感謝你過去六年半以來對我的信任與支持。然而，有時機會也會來臨，我會在一家競爭激烈的公司擔任一個新職位，很快就會公佈。

While I leave the role of CFO here in very capable guardianship of Eric West, Eric and I have known each other and worked together for many years, including here at Aqua Metals, and I am providing consultancy to the company and to Eric through August for a seamless transition.

雖然我將在 Eric West 的出色監護下卸任財務長一職，但我和 Eric 已經相識並共事多年，包括在 Aqua Metals 工作期間，我將在 8 月為公司和 Eric 提供諮詢服務，確保順利過渡。

I thought I'd ask Eric to introduce himself briefly on this call. Eric, go ahead.

我想請艾瑞克在這通電話中簡單介紹一下自己。埃里克，說吧。

Thanks Judd and Steve and to the board for giving me the opportunity to smoothly take the helm from Judd and help drive forward our future. I'm returning to Aqua Metals to take this role because I believe in the company's value proposition, the strength of the team, and in my abilities to make a positive impact on the company's future.

感謝賈德、史蒂夫和董事會給我機會順利接替賈德掌舵並幫助推動我們的未來發展。我之所以回到 Aqua Metals 擔任這個職位，是因為我相信公司的價值主張、團隊的實力，也相信我能為公司的未來帶來正面的影響。

I will leave it at that for now and look forward to engaging with shareholders and stakeholders directly in the near future. I'll turn it back over to Jed now to cover the Q1 financials and Q&A.

我現在就講到這裡，並期待在不久的將來直接與股東和利害關係人接觸。現在我將把話題轉回給傑德，讓他介紹第一季的財務狀況和問答情況。

Thanks, Eric. Let me start my comments with our balance sheets. We ended the quarter with total cash of approximately 1.6 million.

謝謝，埃里克。讓我從我們的資產負債表開始我的評論。本季結束時，我們的現金總額約為 160 萬美元。

As we have reported, we have listed the Sierra ARC asset for sell. The sell would result in the retirement of all debt and produce cash proceeds while also reducing holding costs by approximately $100,000 per month.

正如我們所報導的，我們已將 Sierra ARC 資產列入出售名單。此次出售將導致所有債務的償還並產生現金收益，同時也將每月減少約 10 萬美元的持有成本。

This decision adds cash runway allowing the company to evaluate more cost-effective, cost-efficient locations for future development.

這項決定增加了現金流，使公司能夠評估更具成本效益、更有效率的未來發展地點。

The Sierra ARC facility includes the building structure, the underlying land, and various permanent improvements that were previously classified as construction and progress within the plant, property, and equipment on the company's consolidated balance sheet. The total carrying value of the asset group was approximately 9.3 million net of depreciation.

Sierra ARC 工廠包括建築結構、底層土地和各種永久性改良設施，這些設施先前在公司合併資產負債表上被歸類為廠房、財產和設備內的建設和進展。該資產組的總帳面價值扣除折舊後約為930萬美元。

An impairment charge of approximately $5.2 million was recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2025. The company anticipates the sale will be completed during the second quarter of 2025.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的三個月內記錄了約 520 萬美元的減損費用。該公司預計此次出售將於 2025 年第二季完成。

I will move now to the income statement. Plant operations decreased approximately $1.5 million, or 67.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2025, as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by a reduction in payroll and related costs of approximately $786,000 resulting from workforce reductions implemented in August 2024 and continued reductions during the first quarter of 2025.

我現在要討論損益表。與截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的三個月相比，截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的三個月的工廠營運減少了約 150 萬美元，即 67.2%。減少的主要原因是 2024 年 8 月實施的裁員以及 2025 年第一季的持續裁員導致工資和相關成本減少約 786,000 美元。

Additionally, professional fees decreased by approximately 390,000 and supplies, materials, inventory adjustments, and other overhead related expenses decreased by 309,000.

此外，專業費用減少了約 39 萬美元，供應品、材料、庫存調整和其他間接相關費用減少了 30.9 萬美元。

General and administrative expense decreased 619,000 or approximately 20.7% for the three months ending March 31st, 2025, compared to the three months ending March 31st, 2024.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的三個月，一般及行政費用與截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的三個月相比減少了 619,000 美元，約佔 20.7%。

The decrease was primarily due to a reduction in payroll and related costs of approximately $737,000 and a $49,000 decrease in director's fees. These decreases were partially offset by an increase of $41,000 professional fees and $126,000 supplies, materials, and other overhead expenses.

減少的主要原因是工資和相關成本減少約 737,000 美元，以及董事費用減少 49,000 美元。這些減少部分被 41,000 美元的專業費用和 126,000 美元的供應品、材料和其他間接費用的增加所抵消。

For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the company recognized a non-cash impairment of approximately $5.2 million related to construction in progress for the facility.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的三個月，該公司確認了與該設施在建工程相關的約 520 萬美元的非現金減損。

The impairment was the result of a strategic shift in revised capital allocation priorities which led management to discontinue the development of the facility for its originally intended use. As a result, the carrying amount of the facility was reduced to reflect its estimated recoverable value.

此減損是由於修訂後的資本配置重點發生策略轉變，導致管理階層停止開發該設施的原定用途。因此，該設施的帳面價值減少，以反映其估計的可回收價值。

Our net loss for the three months ended March 30, 2025, was approximately $8.3 million or a negative dollar and $0.03 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of $5.5 million or a negative dollar $0.05 per basic and diluted share for three months ended March 301, 2024.

截至 2025 年 3 月 30 日的三個月，我們的淨虧損約為 830 萬美元，即每股基本虧損和稀釋虧損均為負 0.03 美元，而截至 2024 年 3 月 30 日的三個月，我們的淨虧損為 550 萬美元，即每股基本虧損和稀釋虧損均為 0.05 美元。

Now moving to the cash flow statement. Net cash use and operating activities during this period consisted primarily of our net loss suggested for non-cash items such as depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation charges, as well as net changes in working capital.

現在轉到現金流量表。本期間的淨現金使用和經營活動主要包括我們建議的非現金項目的淨虧損，例如折舊、攤提和股票薪酬費用，以及營運資本的淨變動。

Net changes and investing activities, primarily included minor, previously committed fixed asset acquisitions. Net cash provided by financing activities was $638,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2025, consisting of $1.2 million net proceeds from the sale of Aqua Metal shares pursuant to the at the market offering or ATM, offset by $66,000 related to tax withholdings to cover RSU vesting.

淨變動和投資活動主要包括先前承諾的小額固定資產收購。截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的三個月，融資活動提供的淨現金為 638,000 美元，其中包括根據市場發行或 ATM 出售 Aqua Metal 股票所得的 120 萬美元淨收益，抵消了與稅收預扣相關的 66,000 美元，以支付 RSU 歸屬。

And $500,000 principal payments made on notes payable. We are actively engaging with potential and strategic financial partners aligned with our long-term strategy.

並支付了 50 萬美元的應付票據本金。我們正在積極與符合我們長期策略的潛在策略金融合作夥伴合作。

That concludes my remarks on the company's financials. I will now turn it back over to the moderator for Q&A.

這是我對公司財務狀況的評論。現在我將把時間交還給主持人進行問答。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, the floor is now open for questions.

謝謝女士們、先生們，現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Mickey Leg from benchmark. Please go ahead, Mickey.

來自基準的米奇腿。請繼續，米奇。

Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions and congrats on making it through another quarter. Judd, congrats on your new role too, I wish you the best and, Eric, it's nice to meet you over the phone and congrats on the new role as well.

嘿，大家好，感謝你們回答我的問題，恭喜你們度過了又一個季度。賈德，也祝賀你獲得新職位，祝你一切順利，埃里克，很高興透過電話認識你，也祝賀你獲得新職位。

So, I guess just to start, have to ask on the Sierra ARC sale to find yourself some breathing room there. Could you just walk me through, that process, your thought process with that and exactly, how much runway does this give you and it seems like if I could read into this a little bit, there's more of a focus on co-locating now and could you just, correct me there if that's right and walk me through that? Thanks.

因此，我想首先，必須詢問 Sierra ARC 銷售情況，以便為自己找到一些喘息的空間。您能否簡單介紹一下這個過程、您的思考過程，以及這究竟給您帶來了多大的機遇，如果我能稍微了解一下，就會發現現在更多的是關注共置，如果正確的話，您能否糾正我並指導我？謝謝。

Hey Mickey, yeah, this is Steve. Thanks for the question and I'll start with the Sierra ARC and kind of my view and the industry as a whole.

嘿，米奇，是的，這是史蒂夫。感謝您的提問，我將從 Sierra ARC 以及我的觀點和整個行業開始。

And as everyone's looking at the critical minerals industry is seeing, I would say there are companies that have had to effectively cease operations due to large initial outlays and building what we would characterize as really large plants.

正如所有關注關鍵礦產行業的人士所看到的那樣，我想說，有些公司由於前期投入巨大，並且建造了我們所說的大型工廠，因此不得不停止運營。

And we've always been market aware and willing to pivot and willing to adapt the current conditions early enough, and that gives us kind of that pragmatic and survivor instinct that we've demonstrated in the past for those of you that have known us for a long time. Along with our own belief, most analysts and players in this industry do believe that it's going to thrive for those that survive.

我們始終關注市場，願意儘早調整併適應當前條件，這給了我們一種務實和生存的本能，就像我們過去向那些長期認識我們的人展示的那樣。與我們自己的信念一樣，該行業的大多數分析師和參與者都相信，對於生存下來的企業來說，該行業將會蓬勃發展。

Selling the Sierra ARC now gives us that $100,000 a month savings and carrying costs and gives us that meaningful cash runway to continue to develop our commercial relationships with that pragmatic and what I would say is resilient shift in focus to build it when they come compared to what the industry has been doing, which has been build it and then they will come.

現在出售 Sierra ARC 可以讓我們每月節省 10 萬美元並節省持有成本，同時還能給我們提供有意義的現金流，讓我們能夠繼續發展我們的商業關係，並且我們能夠務實，將重點轉移到當客戶到來時再建造，而業界一直以來的做法是先建好，然後客戶就會來。

We're fully committed to building the first ark once we finalize the offtake and supply financing for the entire project, and our commercial discussions have led us to alternate locations, and that could improve the CapEx and OPEX and other efficiencies, especially needed in the current market conditions to produce EBITDA that is bankable.

一旦我們完成整個專案的承購和供應融資，我們將全力致力於建造第一個方舟，我們的商業討論已經為我們找到了替代地點，這可以改善資本支出和營運支出以及其他效率，特別是在當前市場條件下產生可靠的 EBITDA 所需的。

And that's really what we believe is the best approach, given the current difficult market conditions and public policy shift, etc. Is to is to do what we've done and to partner and go where the materials are versus bring the materials to us and not carry the load in the meantime. I'll turn it over to Judd just to give you another quick summary in terms of what it means for us economically on you know how it saves us money so we can be very clear on that.

考慮到當前困難的市場條件和公共政策轉變等，我們認為這確實是最好的方法。就是做我們已經做的事情，與合作夥伴一起去有材料的地方，而不是把材料帶給我們，而在此期間我們不需要承擔負擔。我將把它交給賈德，只是為了給你另一個簡短的總結，關於它對我們的經濟意義，你知道它如何為我們節省資金，以便我們可以非常清楚這一點。

Yeah, hi, Mickey, and thanks for your comments and your questions.

是的，你好，米奇，謝謝你的評論和提問。

So, the Sierra ARC We owe about $3 million on that. That's the only debt the company has left, and so anything that we sell above and beyond that price, will add to our cash balance, and so, in the past and we're still kind of in the same area of about $500,000 a month burn.

因此，我們欠 Sierra ARC 大約 300 萬美元。這是公司僅剩的債務，因此，我們以高於該價格出售的任何商品都會增加我們的現金餘額，因此，在過去，我們仍然處於每月約 50 萬美元的燒錢水平。

And that's just our base kind of like holding cost and being a publicly traded and employees and all that and even some of the costs related to the work that's still ongoing at our innovation centre, which we still are operating and running, on an ongoing basis. So, we anticipate that, we'll be over that, debt price quite a bit and that will just add to our cash balance and help with the runway.

這只是我們的基本成本，例如持有成本、上市公司成本、員工成本等等，甚至還有一些與我們創新中心仍在進行的工作相關的成本，我們仍在持續運作和運作這些成本。因此，我們預計，我們的債務價格將會大幅上漲，這將增加我們的現金餘額並有助於維持營運。

Got it. Okay. That's clear. Alright, and yeah, that kind of segues into my next question, which is related to the macro and how things have been so dynamic, I guess you could put it has there been an uptick in customer inbounds given all, the tariff announcements and discussions there, it seems like OEMs.

知道了。好的。這很清楚。好的，是的，這引出了我的下一個問題，這個問題與宏觀以及事態如何如此動態有關，我想您可以說，考慮到所有關稅公告和討論，客戶入站量是否有所增加，這似乎是原始設備製造商 (OEM) 的問題。

Don't really have a choice but to go domestic now for their lithium, but there's clearly Not a lot of domestic products so I'm just curious, you know what sort of conversations you're having there?

現在他們別無選擇，只能在國內生產鋰，但顯然國內產品不多，所以我很好奇，你知道你們在那裡進行了什麼樣的對話嗎？

Yeah, it's an interesting time in the industry for sure. Everybody is trying to figure out what the public policy moving forward is going to be and how that translates to government support from a policy perspective, from a loan guarantee perspective, and from grant perspective, even grants that were previously issued are in question.

是的，這確實是行業中一個有趣的時期。每個人都在試圖弄清楚未來的公共政策將會是什麼，以及從政策角度、貸款擔保角度和補助金角度來看，這些公共政策將如何轉化為政府支持，甚至以前發放的補助金也受到質疑。

And so that coupled with the drop in lithium prices that are really frankly below any project financeable number for a mine to consider opening up a new lithium mine that is got most analysts, and we agree with those analysts, believing that this is a temporary bump in the road, so to speak and that we will see those lithium prices come up because it has to in order for the industry to really work. Think of it like what the minimum price of a barrel for oil has to be. It's the same type of a scenario.

因此，再加上鋰價下跌，坦白說，鋰價低於任何礦山項目可融資金額，大多數分析師都考慮開設新的鋰礦，我們也同意這些分析師的觀點，認為這只是暫時的障礙，可以這麼說，我們將看到鋰價上漲，因為這是該行業真正運作所必需的。想像一下每桶石油的最低價格是多少。這是同一類型的場景。

So, we see the industry in the meantime looking not only at their own capabilities but looking at each other. And this is very common when an industry is new and maturing and hits a bump in the road that you see a phase of consolidation.

因此，我們看到，同時，該行業不僅關注自身的能力，而且還關注彼此的能力。當一個產業剛起步並逐漸成熟，遇到發展障礙時，就會進入整合階段，這種情況很常見。

And a phase of more open armed partnerships, and that's what we've been experiencing is the activity level of engaging with not only the large players but the medium and the small players has really gone through the roof, which is a really positive thing because now everybody's talking and trying to collectively figure out how to build this industry from the ground up in the US.

這是一個更開放的合作階段，我們所經歷的就是與大型企業、而且與中型企業和小型企業的合作活動水平確實大幅提升，這是一件非常積極的事情，因為現在每個人都在談論並試圖共同弄清楚如何在美國從頭開始建立這個行業。

So, we're really encouraged by that and like I said in my earlier comments, it's it is the game of survivor, and in order to thrive, you've got to survive and so we're very situationally aware and making sure that we continue to survive and be there for when this industry really starts to thrive.

因此，我們真的受到了鼓舞，就像我在之前的評論中所說的那樣，這是一場生存者的遊戲，為了繁榮，你必須生存下來，所以我們非常了解情況，確保我們繼續生存下來，並在這個行業真正開始繁榮的時候出現。

Got it. Okay, understood.

知道了。好的，明白了。

I thought the product line expansion and the LFP recycling was an interesting development and it's another example of how you guys are able to be nimble in this rapidly evolving industry, and it seems like that.

我認為產品線擴展和 LFP 回收是一個有趣的發展，這是你們如何能夠在這個快速發展的行業中保持靈活的另一個例子，看起來就是這樣。

Being driven by some of these customary discussions you're having and some of the off-take product that they're looking for to meet some of their specifications. Could you just talk about the opportunity there and where, what the thought process is with that.

受到您正在進行的一些常規討論以及他們正在尋找的一些滿足其某些規格的承購產品的推動。您能否談談那裡的機會、地點以及您的想法。

Yeah, great, Mickey. That's a great question. I would love to talk about that.

是的，太棒了，米奇。這是一個很好的問題。我很樂意談論這個。

So, I would say our advancements that we've announced this quarter are really two pronged, and that is that firstly we're oriented to market and partner responsiveness by our nature. So, think of that as like have it your way, and that means making materials that fit as best as possible as the input for our downstream partners, processes.

因此，我想說，我們本季宣布的進步實際上是雙管齊下的，那就是首先，我們本質上是以市場和合作夥伴的回應為導向的。因此，將其視為按照自己的方式行事，這意味著製造盡可能適合作為我們下游合作夥伴和流程的輸入的材料。

And that greatly enhances and improves our offtake opportunities and engagements with those customers because we're going to give it to them their way.

這極大地增強和改善了我們與這些客戶的承購機會和互動，因為我們將按照他們的方式提供給他們。

Secondly, we're really driving hard for optimization and that is really to improve the plant economics iteratively, so our process does continue to be the one, if not the only one. That could actually produce positive EBITDA, particularly with the suppressed metals prices and current marketplace conditions that we're seeing.

其次，我們確實在努力進行最佳化，這實際上是為了不斷改善工廠的經濟效益，因此我們的流程即使不是唯一的，也將繼續是唯一的。這實際上可以產生正的 EBITDA，特別是在我們看到金屬價格低迷和當前市場狀況的情況下。

So, with that focus on that optimization, we believe strongly that our operating costs at commercial scale could be much lower than the other processes and that's because they eliminate the need for massive amounts of one-time use chemical costs, transport costs, processing costs, and costly and harmful waste streams that come about when you're doing it with that methodology and that we believe does two things.

因此，透過專注於最佳化，我們堅信，我們的商業規模營運成本可能比其他流程低得多，這是因為它們消除了大量一次性使用化學品成本、運輸成本、加工成本以及使用該方法時產生的昂貴且有害的廢物流，我們認為這有兩個作用。

That optimization improves our margin profile at scale, and that provides what we believe is still a bankable plant build future that can be debt or project financed and then the second thing that does is that this key work allows us to further advance discussions we've been having with other adjacent players in the critical mineral space for Aqua Metals to also be an enabler in the form of licensing or joint venture or other win-win arrangements because we have the IP.

這種優化可以大規模提高我們的利潤率，並為我們提供了一個我們認為仍然可靠的工廠建設未來，可以通過債務或項目融資，然後，這項關鍵工作使我們能夠進一步推進與關鍵礦物領域的其他相鄰參與者的討論，以使 Aqua Metals 也能以許可或合資企業或其他雙贏安排的形式成為推動者，因為我們擁有知識產權。

We have the two plus years of demonstrating lithium ion refining that have produced battery grade materials, and we have the proof of the economic and environmental and worker safety advantages and that's what we believe is at the largest scale of battery grade materials production from recycling by us thus far in the US.

我們花了兩年多的時間展示鋰離子精煉技術，生產出了電池級材料，並且我們有經濟、環境和工人安全優勢的證據，我們相信這是迄今為止我們在美國透過回收生產電池級材料的最大規模。

Great and then lastly, I just have to throw in one about government discussions in the White House. I know I asked last call, and you said it might take a couple of months for those to progress and to get.

太好了，最後，我只想補充一點關於白宮政府討論的內容。我知道我上次問過，你說這些可能需要幾個月的時間才能取得進展。

A bit better by the sight into how those may go is there anything more you could tell us, are those active, I see, your mission at creating, domestically produced product that's very aligned with this administration's desire to create this supply chain locally here in the US like.

透過觀察這些可能如何進行，您能告訴我們更多嗎？這些都是正面的嗎？我明白了，您的使命是創造國產產品，這與本屆政府希望在美國本地建立供應鏈的願望非常一致。

Yeah, so the government side is kind of what we discussed in the last conference call. We've been engaging the various stakeholder agencies, and that includes things like the DOD, the DOE, etc.

是的，政府方面的內容就是我們在上次電話會議中討論的內容。我們一直在與各利益相關機構接觸，其中包括國防部、能源部等。

And we're taking full advantage of the opportunity, but we don't have specific feedback yet and we've been advised by our well-respected DC-based government relations partner. That it will likely take a few more months to gain a little bit more clarity in what the go forward policy and then following with that policy, the funding support will or won't be for the industry.

我們正在充分利用這個機會，但我們還沒有收到具體的回饋，我們已經得到了位於華盛頓特區的受人尊敬的政府關係合作夥伴的建議。可能還需要幾個月的時間才能更清楚地了解未來的政策，然後根據該政策，決定是否為該行業提供資金支持。

That said, we are aligned with the administration's interest in securing the domestic supply chain and keeping all these critical and valuable materials in the US where they can then be reintroduced into the US manufacturing operations, creating manufacturing jobs rather than really the current conditions.

話雖如此，我們與政府的利益保持一致，確保國內供應鏈的安全，並將所有這些關鍵且有價值的材料留在美國，然後將它們重新引入美國製造業，創造製造業就業機會，而不是真正維持目前的狀況。

Where effectively the US is a net exporter of critical materials in the form of black mass that goes to Asia and an importer of the battery cells and systems that come back as a net importer.

實際上，美國是關鍵材料的淨出口國，其黑塊銷往亞洲，而美國也是電池單元和系統的淨進口國。

And everyone agrees on that being a major problem and a major priority to address, and so we're really hopeful and active in trying to affect the outcome to see government support really kick in in this space again later this year.

每個人都同意這是一個主要問題，也是需要解決的首要任務，因此我們真的充滿希望並積極嘗試影響結果，希望看到政府的支持在今年晚些時候再次真正發揮作用。

Got it. Okay, that's all for me. Thanks guys.

知道了。好的，我就講到這裡。謝謝大家。

Thanks, Mickey.

謝謝，米奇。

Once again, that's one if you do have a question or comment.

再次強調，如果您有任何問題或意見，可以諮詢我。

And I'll turn the floor over to Bob Myers for additional questions.

接下來我將把提問時間交給鮑伯·邁爾斯來回答其他問題。

Yes, thank we thank you we have received a few questions.

是的，謝謝，我們收到了一些問題。

First question are potential partners testing the quality of your more recent material that you're producing?

第一個問題，潛在的合作夥伴是否正在測試您最近製作的材料的品質？

Yeah, that's a good question. So yes, the primary focus of our pilot demonstration plan operations to continue today and beyond. In our innovation centre here in Tahoe Reno Industrial Center continues to be producing and assaying ourselves product samples and sending those samples and testing varying feedstock sources to create those samples and getting those materials in the hands of all these potential off takers that we've been talking to like I was mentioning earlier.

是的，這是個好問題。是的，我們的試點示範計畫營運的主要重點是今天及以後繼續進行。在我們位於太浩雷諾工業中心的創新中心，我們繼續生產和檢測我們自己的產品樣品，並發送這些樣品，測試不同的原料來源來創建這些樣品，並將這些材料交到我們一直在談論的所有潛在承購商手中，就像我之前提到的那樣。

We've continued doing this in Q1 through now and those commercial relationships of course really underpin the financing of moving forward with that commercial scale facility.

我們在第一季到現在一直在這樣做，這些商業關係當然真正支撐了該商業規模設施的融資。

Great, thank you. The next question is similar.

太好了，謝謝。下一個問題類似。

With the appropriate financing for Sierra ARC.

為 Sierra ARC 提供適當的融資。

How quickly can these new initiatives translate into revenues?

這些新措施多快能轉化為收入？

Yeah, so even with the Sierra ARC, we would need to build an additional building. So, we believe that we could potentially improve time to market by taking a suitable building or buildings that already exist, such as a brownfield sitting somewhere else in the country closer to supply and offtake partners that we're talking to.

是的，即使有了 Sierra ARC，我們仍然需要建造一座額外的建築。因此，我們相信，透過採用現有的合適建築物（例如位於該國其他地方、更靠近我們正在洽談的供應和承購合作夥伴的棕地），我們可以縮短產品上市時間。

And that could be better suited to our new plant layout process flows with these improvements that we made by adding the LMP, mixing it in with the NMC, and producing these other products to be able to produce EBITDA at the maximum level and as I already pointed out.

透過添加 LMP、將其與 NMC 混合以及生產這些其他產品以便能夠以最高水平產生 EBITDA，這可能更適合我們新的工廠佈局流程，正如我已經指出的那樣。

We're in several discussions with these adjacent players in the industry that already have facilities, and we can be an enabler for them and that means making their EBITDA producing value proposition and tying the market greater and faster, and that might allow for improvements for them in those types of scenarios.

我們正在與業內已經擁有設施的相鄰參與者進行多次討論，我們可以為他們提供推動力，這意味著讓他們的 EBITDA 產生價值主張並更大、更快地與市場接軌，這可能會讓他們在這些類型的場景中得到改進。

One company in this industry cannot do it all, so we believe that in addition to helping ourselves, we're positioned uniquely to be able to help all the other companies do it better.

在這個行業中，一家公司不可能包辦所有事情，因此我們相信，除了幫助我們自己之外，我們還擁有獨特的優勢，能夠幫助所有其他公司做得更好。

Got it.

知道了。

Thank you. Pivoting a little to the financials and Judd in particular, can Judd tell us a little bit more about his departure?

謝謝。稍微談談財務狀況，特別是賈德，賈德能否告訴我們更多關於他離職的情況？

Yeah, sure, Bob. So, this decision was based kind of on a long-term opportunity that advances in my career and in a non-competitive opportunity, and it's not related to Aqua Metals. It's really been a pleasure. I'm seriously being here at Aqua Metals and being the CFO, and I wish the best for the team, and that's why, I'm available during a transition period. We've worked out a 90 day plus consulting period where I can help smoothly transition my role to Eric, the incoming CFO.

是的，當然，鮑伯。所以，這個決定是基於我職涯的長期發展機會和非競爭機會，與 Aqua Metals 無關。真的很榮幸。我很認真地在 Aqua Metals 擔任財務官，並希望團隊一切順利，因此，在過渡期間我可以隨時待命。我們制定了為期 90 多天的諮詢期，在此期間我可以幫助即將上任的財務長 Eric 順利過渡我的職責。

And I've worked with Eric for quite a bit of time, not only in Aqua Metals, but in a prior role, and I have full confidence, in him and the go forward plan with that.

我和 Eric 合作了很長時間，不僅在 Aqua Metals，還在之前的職位上合作過，我對他以及他的未來計劃充滿信心。

Great thank you and we have I think one more question for you.

非常感謝，我想我們還有一個問題想問您。

Can you expand a little bit on your early remarks around near term and long-term financing opportunities?

您能否稍微詳細說明一下您先前關於短期和長期融資機會的評論？

Yeah, so we start, we'll start with the near term, that's been driven by our desire to retire some existing debt, by the end of this this quarter that we're in now, and that's going to revert, reduce burn, so we'll be making interest payments and other holding costs, and that helps our cash run rate also, near term financing has included the judicious use of the ATM.

是的，所以我們開始，我們將從短期開始，這是因為我們希望在本季度末償還一些現有債務，這將恢復，減少燒錢，所以我們將支付利息和其他持有成本，這也有助於我們的現金運行率，短期融資包括明智地使用 ATM。

And potential asset disposition of like fungible equipment and as we announced today, real estate that won't be, we don't need, to be bearing the cost, for at this time.

正如我們今天宣布的那樣，可替代設備和房地產等潛在資產處置目前不需要我們承擔成本。

And then on the long term, a lot of this has remained the same, just trying to find the right partner for project financing, and they're still in debt-based finance capital and we're still having discussions and, advancing that and there's some opportunities there, that we're continuing to have. We're also having, directly related discussions about feedstock and off-take partnerships.

從長遠來看，很多方面都保持不變，只是試圖找到合適的專案融資合作夥伴，他們仍然處於債務融資資本中，我們仍在進行討論，並推進這一進程，那裡有一些機會，我們將繼續擁有。我們也就原料和承購合作關係進行了直接相關的討論。

That makes the financing of the first ARC bankable, and then also how we can work together with these partners to fund the go forward strategy.

這使得第一個 ARC 的融資變得可靠，也使得我們如何能夠與這些合作夥伴共同努力為前進策略提供資金。

Excellent thank you and that's all the time we have for questions. I'll now turn the floor back to Steve Cotton for closing remarks.

非常感謝，我們的提問時間就到這裡。現在請史蒂夫·科頓作最後發言。

Great. Well, thank you, operator, and I'll just close by saying this is consolidation time for players and critical minerals for sure, and consolidation also means partnerships.

偉大的。好吧，謝謝你，操作員，最後我想說，這肯定是玩家和關鍵礦物的整合時間，整合也意味著合作關係。

We've seen, for example, in one example, light and acquired many of North fool's assets and many other instances of consolidation and partnering and this is really common with the development of any industry that hits the proverbial bump in the road, and we're definitely paying attention, engaging with all the opportunities with all the parties that are out there and where it makes sense, we'll explore a better way forward on that front.

例如，我們看到 Light 公司收購了 North Fool 的許多資產，還有許多其他合併和合作的例子，這在任何行業的發展過程中遇到所謂的障礙時都很常見，我們肯定會關注，與所有各方一起抓住所有機會，在有意義的地方，我們將探索更好的前進方式。

But in the meantime, we've really added to the resilience and the runway of the company with the courageous decisions that we've made as a management team to date and I feel very confident in our ability to continue to survive to make the day that we shall thrive and I thank everybody for your support and continued confidence in Aqua Metals, and we will see you soon.

但同時，我們管理團隊迄今為止所做的勇敢決策確實增強了公司的韌性和發展空間，我對我們繼續生存下去、最終繁榮發展的能力充滿信心，感謝大家對 Aqua Metals 的支持和持續信心，我們很快就會再見到你們。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a great day.

謝謝各位，女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路並享受美好的一天。