So we are looking at doing some testing and development around the vanadium as well from ReElement’s perspective. Haven’t done it yet, but we are working on that. So it is predominantly lithium to date, but the ability to utilize our technology for other applications. We are doing some really exciting stuff within the facilities as we speak for other applications like illumina and some other products that need high value refining that we may insert ourselves as a component of that refining process. The ReElement’s I mean run by Chief Operating Officer Jeff Peterson, who’s phenomenal, Ben Wrightman, they are doing some amazing things there in terms of positioning the assets to be deployed into multiple avenues, multiple revenue streams over the next few years.
Mike Niehuser: Well, that was a good question. I asked, just real quick about Marion. Should we be looking at ReElement with Marion as being primarily rare earths not lithium, and then looking at your Noblesville facility as kind of, did you say a pilot plant or a customer qualification lab, so to speak? Is that the right way to look at those three facilities?
Mark LaVerghetta: Yes. So Marion, yes, look at Marion and both. So Marion will be processing black mass end of life batteries for lithium. And then for LFP batteries specifically is a huge market for us in 60% to 70% of the battery market, and we can extract lithium out of LFP batteries very, very economically. We are super excited about that. We will be doing that in Marion as well as NMC, extracting out the lithium and then further processing the nickel cobalt within the NMC batteries very, very cost effectively. And then the rare earth ores. We are working with one automotive company, one of the larger OEMs on recycling their non-spec rotors and materials there as well as power tool markets. We are seeing a bunch of rare elements come in from different feedstocks, that is wind energy, wind turbines, but that will be Marion.
What our Noblesville facility, once we commence production at Marion, which is our current customer qualification plan, we will still produce out of there, but we will also do optimization and development. It will turn into, a think tank lab development beyond the revenue that it will be generating to further co-develop different applications to further drive and optimize our process. We will never stop. I mean Bob Gallien, who is on our Board of ReElement, he was the number two at CATL, build it from $100 in revenue to $185 billion with Robin Zhang, to the largest battery company in the world today. And he told me from day one, you need to always spend on R&D. If you don’t, you will be left behind. And that man knows what he is talking about.
We will do that same thing. And Noblesville will be a great facility for us to do that beyond the revenue it will generate. And then obviously, Kentucky lithium will be processing lithium ores from Africa, Canada and some other locations. But in Knott county, yes. Marion will be both. Knott Count predominantly lithium and then Noblesville will be all of the above but also resin development, technology development as well to further optimize our cost structures.
Mike Niehuser: And then you are also looking to co-locate opportunities where possible, as you mentioned. Why would you not co-locate with your lithium, closer to your lithium mine, if there is as you kind of look at things unfold?
Mark LaVerghetta: We will. I mean I have been in Africa three times in the last six months and heading back probably in another month to further progress the deal we are working on there. We will build refining capacity over there. Now having the Kentucky lithium side up and running, we will always export certain amount of product back to the United States that provides us redundancy for our customer base. And customers, especially when you are dealing with the customers we are dealing with they want to derisk it any way you possibly can. And being able to feed their supply chain from multiple angles, multiple locations is paramount. And there is a lot of locations in Africa today that are producing lithium spodumene and/or other lithium-bearing ores that we can’t build in each one of them today, now down the road, we can.
But there is a select site. We have got three sites in Africa that we are looking at building refining capacity at, working with our local partners on the financing aspect of it, the structure of it, site location, all that good stuff, so we can build local refining. Now also having that redundancy back in the United States is a de-risking mechanism for our customers.
Mike Niehuser: Are you thinking about recycling catalytic inverters?
Mark LaVerghetta: Not looking at catalytic converters as currently. But I will say in our Marion facility which is really, really nicely, we will further build out the lab there too. We will down the road work on other applications. Like I said, alumina, some high nickel content applications, germanium, gallium, looking at the ability to utilize our technology for refining all other materials as well. Catalytic inverters probably not as much. Not a market. I don’t know. I mean, I don’t want to say no to anything, but our lab and our team that we are building there could look at a number of different applications. Catalytic inverters, how they are sourced is on sometimes a little bit negative.
