On 11th October, 2022, one of the world’s largest and most influential automakers, General Motors (GM), announced that it had entered into a binding equity subscription and offtake agreement with Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) – securing enough battery metals to deliver one million electric cars and trucks by 2025. 

Critical to the future delivery of greener nickel, our DNi Process™ lies at the heart of QPM’s TECH project. This backing from GM is yet another vote of confidence in the TECH Project and the viability of the DNi Process™ to sustainably produce much-needed battery metals.

With these commercial and operational due-diligence stage-gates behind us – there remain few reasons to not adopt our transformational and innovative process.

The DNi Process™ is the Only Zero-waste Process that can Deliver at Scale 

Sustainability lies at the heart of our DNi Process™. 

The increased demand for EVs requires sustainable processes which are capable of delivering the necessary volumes of battery metals, and currently, the DNi Process™ is the only zero-waste option. Through its innovative chemistry it will avoid a legacy of harmful tailings dams and deep sea dumping. 

All the metals – All the ore: extracting all metals from the entire lateritic ore profile, whilst recycling 99% of the nitric acid used – efficient by definition!  

Enabling a greener, more sustainable transition to cleaner battery technology.

Heavyweight Backing

The GM deal with QPM will supply the automaker with 6,000tpa of nickel in the form of nickel sulphate, increasing to 16,000tpa when commitments are met. 

In addition, GM has the rights to purchase 800tpa of cobalt in the form of cobalt sulphate, which is set to increase to 1800tpa – as well as all of the nickel and cobalt sulphate produced under Phase 2 of the project.

GM’s investment of up to US$69m, which consists of an initial $25m investment – along with a final investment decision (FID) of up to $44m – comes off the back of LG Energy Solutions (LGES) and POSCO’s investment of $15m (A$19.3m) in 2021. 

What’s Next? 

As a result of this investment, we’ve received enquiries from automakers, battery manufacturers and battery metal producers – all eager to learn more about the possibilities of our DNi Process™.

With the world’s largest nickel reserves, Indonesia has become a key player in the production of processed battery metals. We’re pleased to be on the ground there, working with partners to accelerate the commercialisation of our zero-waste DNi Process™ in the region.   

With the industry waking up to its potential, there is a clear road ahead for Altilium and the DNi Process™.

For those who are serious about adopting a new processing technology with distinct environmental benefits, but are concerned about the risks – the key question is: with detailed due diligence undertaken by GM, LG and POSCO – what commercial risk remains in the adoption of the DNi Process™ as a new technology?  

To learn more about our DNi Process™, contact us here.