So we see over time the inevitability of this industry despite some folks that may say it’s not growing or not growing as fast as it could or should. Now when you switch gears to the company and the views of the company is because the nascent industry, the ability to close the loop and do the recycling of lithium ion batteries. It’s not easy. And there’s some companies that have made these moon shots and have had some challenges and that’s cast a little bit of a shadow over the industry as a whole. But that’s actually created opportunities for awkward metals that are unlocked in terms of what the share price looks like. And those opportunities are from commercial parties realizing that they need to consider working with a recycler that’s actually developed a pilot and operated a pilot.
We think that as we make the progress and start to produce minerals and materials, that we will see a great opportunity to increase the value in the company and the share price if the investor community decides to reward us. That’s our plan and our intent to keep the nose to the grindstone and do what we said we were going to do and keep doing what we say we’re going to do in the future and we believe that the valuation of the company will be commensurate with that.
Bob Meyers: Great, thank you. Next question, are there any active discussions that you can expand upon with US auto OEMs or battery manufacturers?
Steve Cotton: As I said before, we can’t name names, but we have them coming through and visiting all the time, and we’re providing samples all the time either directly to the OEMs via an auto manufacturer that’s a big auto, or auto manufacturer just came through that’s an emerging auto manufacturer looking for a way to close its loop and providing these materials directly and through 6K Energy in the form of the cathode active materials to even sell manufacturers, etc. So there are a lot of those meetings and conversations and getting to know each other and developing the relationships. And it takes time, but we think that our funnel and level of engagement that’s driving our commercial and engineering team to spend quite a bit of time each week on those projects and activities will ultimately yield an exciting further announcements beyond what we’ve already announced yesterday with 6K.
Bob Meyers: Great, Thank you. And you touched upon this a little bit in the earlier question, but another question about the market and your perspective on Aqua Metals not getting as much credit with the carbon-friendly process versus some of the other companies out there that have hydro and pyro?
Steve Cotton: Yes, so it’s not only the CO2 and the fact that alternative hydro and pyro processes generate a heck of a lot more CO2 greenhouse gas by weight than what’s being recycled to begin with, and we’ve created the minimus amounts. But what’s also attracted folks in the industry to us, and people are quite taking note, believe me, we’re well noted within the DOE, within the industry, within the industry trade groups for our lack of sodium sulfate production. We produce no sodium sulfate waste streams. And we hear more and more folks in the industry saying that it is absolutely unsustainable for processes that generate sodium sulfate. And that’s not only from an environmental perspective, but it’s just from a cost perspective.
The cost to build tens of millions of dollars of crystallizers that are nothing more than trash dryers that produce sodium sulfate that you then have to transport to landfill or the oceans, we don’t have any of those costs. We just have our plant with the electricity coming in driving the process and we don’t bring in a bunch of one-time use chemicals that create those waste streams or the fossil fuels that go into a smelter that burns the materials. So we see a lot of recognition and a lot of notice and a lot of engagement within industry. And we’re still waiting for the world to catch up a little bit in noticing the fact of our sustainability that also has great economic comparative benefits compared to any other process that’s out there.
Operator: Thank you. This is all the time we have for questions. I’d like to turn the floor back over to management for any further or closing comments.
Steve Cotton: Thank you again everyone for your time and attention. We are rapidly advancing our operational and commercial initiatives on a global scale, and it’s an exciting time for Aqua Metals, and we look forward to providing updates on our continued progress. And in the meantime, if anyone has any questions, feel free to contact us or FNK IR. Thanks again.
Operator: 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.
