Nano One (NANO) CEO Dan Blondal & CFO Carlo Valente Outlook for Cathode Material Production

Summary

In this interview, Nano One's CEO Dan Blondell and CFO Carlo Valente discuss the company's innovative lithium-ion battery cathode materials and growth plans. They highlight their technology's ability to produce cathode materials more sustainably and cost-effectively, targeting the large market opportunity outside China. The executives emphasize partnerships, validation with OEMs, and the potential for licensing their technology globally. They also address the competitive landscape, the importance of government incentives, and the company's strategies to scale up production and secure off-take agreements, positioning Nano One as a key player in the evolving battery materials market.

Takeaways

• 😀 Nano One is a technology company developing processed technology for lithium-ion battery cathode materials.
• 🌟 The company's first target is lithium iron phosphate (LFP), which is a significant market opportunity, especially as the world seeks to diversify supply chains outside of China.
• 📈 Nano One aims to capitalize on the projected $117 billion cathode material market opportunity by 2035, focusing on providing technology for cleaner, more efficient battery production.
• 💡 Their proprietary 'one pot' technology simplifies the production process, reduces costs, and eliminates wastewater discharge, which is a significant environmental advantage.
• 🔄 The company has multiple revenue streams, including existing pilot manufacturing, larger commercial plants, and licensing their technology globally.
• 🤝 Nano One has formed strategic partnerships with major industry players, including Rio Tinto, Johnson Matthey Battery Materials, and Sumitomo Metal Mining.
• 🌳 The company is focused on securing a greener and more sustainable supply chain for battery materials, which is increasingly important due to geopolitical changes.
• 🏢 CFO Carlo Valente joined Nano One due to the company's strong team, demonstrated commercial viability, and the large addressable market for their scalable technology.
• 🔍 CFO Valente's experience includes significant roles in growth companies within the mining and clean tech sectors, bringing valuable expertise to Nano One's financial strategy.
• 🚀 The company's growth strategy includes scaling up their Candiac plant, developing a 25,000-ton LFP plant, and expanding globally through strategic licensing agreements.

Q & A

What is Nano One's primary focus in the battery materials market?

Nano One is focused on developing processed technology to make lithium-ion battery cathode materials, specifically targeting lithium iron phosphate (LFP), nickel-based, and manganese-based cathode materials.

What is the total market opportunity for cathode materials that Nano One is eyeing?

The total market opportunity for cathode materials outside of China is projected to be around $117 billion by 2035, with LFP constituting a significant portion of it.

How does Nano One's technology address the environmental impact of cathode material production?

Nano One's technology, known as the one-pot process, helps reduce complexity in capital and operational expenditures, energy use, and CO2 footprint. It also completely eliminates wastewater and discharge, which is a significant environmental advantage.

What are the multiple revenue streams that Nano One is looking to capitalize on?

Nano One's revenue streams include operations from their existing pilot and manufacturing facility in Quebec, larger commercial plants, and licensing their technology to global players looking to build cathode facilities and infrastructure.

What is the significance of the partnership with Warley for Nano One?

The partnership with Warley is significant as it helps accelerate and broaden the market opportunity for Nano One's technology. Warley brings a global reach, a large customer base, and the capability to design, build, and propagate Nano One's technology through licensing in various jurisdictions around the world.

Why did CFO Carlo Valente choose to work with Nano One?

Carlo Valente was attracted to Nano One due to the strong team, the demonstrated commercial viability of the technology, the large addressable market, the scalability of the technology, and the strategic positioning in the EV energy storage space with government support and market tailwinds.

What are some of the key partnerships Nano One has established in the past two years?

Key partnerships include a strategic alliance and investment with Rio Tinto for iron metal powder supply, the acquisition of Johnson Matthey battery materials for an existing facility, joint development partners like BASF and Umicore, and a significant partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining for lithium iron phosphate development.

How does Nano One plan to remain competitive with China's dominance in LFP battery production?

Nano One plans to remain competitive by offering a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective process that eliminates wastewater and reduces equipment needs. They also aim to leverage incentives from various jurisdictions to grow their supply chain.

What is the current status of Nano One's validation process with automotive OEMs?

Nano One has already begun the validation process with several automotive OEMs. This process involves hitting the right specs, going through multiple sampling stages, and eventually supplying materials for vehicle testing.

What are some of the risks and challenges that Nano One is facing as they scale up their operations?

Some of the risks include the timelines to cash flow, market acceptance, shifts in supply chains, and the continuous availability of capital. Additionally, there's the challenge of competing with established markets like China and navigating the political and economic landscape as it evolves.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Nano One's Battery Cathode Materials and Growth Strategy

In this introductory paragraph, CEO Dan Blondell and CFO Carlo Valente of Nano One join Martin Gago from Market Radius Research to discuss the company's focus on developing high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. They emphasize the significant market opportunity, estimated at $117 billion by 2035, for cathode materials production outside China. Nano One's technology addresses the need for lithium, iron, phosphate, and other materials, with an initial focus on LFP (lithium iron phosphate). The company aims to lead the charge outside of China, where the market is currently dominated. They discuss multiple revenue streams, including pilot manufacturing facilities in Quebec, commercial plants, and licensing their 'one pot' technology, which reduces complexity, capex, opex, energy, and CO2 footprint while eliminating wastewater discharge. This technology is crucial for establishing supply chains in the West and other regions, which is increasingly important due to geopolitical changes in supply chains.

05:00

👋 Meet the Team and Discussion on Nano One's Recent Developments

CFO Carlo Valente introduces himself, sharing his background in growth companies within the mining and clean tech sectors. He discusses what attracted him to Nano One, including the strong team, the company's demonstrated commercial viability, and its scalable technology with a large addressable market. Valente also highlights the government support and market tailwinds that position Nano One well for success. The conversation shifts to discuss Nano One's significant partnerships and developments over the past two years. These include a strategic alliance and investment with Rio Tinto, the acquisition of Johnson Matthey Battery Materials, and collaborations with BASF and Umore. These partnerships have led to advancements in lab and piloting stages and are instrumental in the commercialization of Nano One's technology. The discussion also touches on the recent partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining, which is aimed at developing and licensing Nano One's technology for lithium iron phosphate globally.

10:02

🔍 Deep Dive into Nano One's Partnerships and Engineering Agreements

This paragraph delves deeper into Nano One's strategic partnerships and the engineering agreements that are pivotal to the company's growth. The company has been working on several fronts, including the development of its Candiac plant, which is operational at about 200 tons capacity with ambitions to scale up. There's also the 25,000-ton LFP plant, likened to a mining project, which is in the permitting and site selection phase. A significant focus is on the recent engineering agreement with Worley and BBA, which involves taking the plant design to a detailed level, preparing for construction, and eventually creating a modular design package for global licensing. This package will include equipment, flow sheets, and the 'one pot' process technology, streamlining the process for local engineering companies to build plants without the need for extensive custom engineering.

15:03

🚀 Scaling Up Production and Revenue Streams at Nano One

The discussion continues with an exploration of Nano One's revenue streams and scaling plans. The company operates an existing plant with plans to expand its capacity from 200 tons to between 1,000 and 2,000 tons. This plant will serve as a standalone revenue generator and a demonstration facility for future partners. Additionally, the company is working on the permitting and financing for a larger 25,000-ton LFP plant, which is a significant project in its own right. The global expansion is expected to come through the Worley alliance, where Nano One will sell its technology in the form of a package, including equipment, engineering, and the 'one pot' technology. This approach is expected to yield high volumes and global reach, with the potential for licensing and equipment procurement revenues.

20:05

📈 Financial Readiness and Strategic Planning at Nano One

CFO Carlo Valente addresses the financial aspect of Nano One's operations, emphasizing the company's readiness to advance its initiatives. While acknowledging the need for additional capital to complete the expansion of the Candiac facility and the 25,000-ton plant, Valente highlights ongoing efforts to secure government support and the potential impact of this support on the company's pace of expansion. He also mentions the company's discretionary items in its objectives and forecasts, indicating a strategic approach to financial planning and decision-making.

25:06

🔗 Validation Cycles and Strategic Partnerships for Nano One

Dan Blondell discusses the validation cycles with automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), which are a critical part of Nano One's business development. He confirms that these cycles have begun and explains the process of working with OEMs, which involves hitting the right specifications, going through multiple sampling stages, and eventually getting materials into vehicles. Blondell also touches on the importance of not relying solely on one market segment and the strategy of working with a variety of off-takers to hedge against market lumpiness. The conversation highlights the company's efforts to secure off-take agreements and the importance of these agreements for driving decisions on larger facility expansions.

30:08

🌐 Global Competitiveness and Strategic Positioning of Nano One

The conversation shifts to the global competitiveness of Nano One, particularly in relation to China's dominance in the LFP battery market. Blondell explains the challenges of competing with China, which controls most of the world's precursors for cathode materials and has a 10-year head start in the market. However, he also discusses Nano One's strategy to be competitive by combining the precursor process with the lithiation process into one, reducing equipment needs, and improving yield. The discussion also covers the importance of government incentives in nurturing the supply chain and the potential role of tariffs in making North American and European production competitive with China.

35:09

🛠️ Innovation and Risk Management at Nano One

In this paragraph, the focus is on the innovation within the LFP market and the risks associated with scaling the business. Blondell highlights the need for innovation, as simply copying China's methods would not allow for breaking away from China's control over the iron sulfate supply chain. He also discusses the importance of market acceptance and the various levels of validation Nano One is undergoing with different parties. CFO Carlo Valente adds his perspective on the risks related to timelines to cash flow, market acceptance, and the continuous availability of capital. Both executives emphasize the importance of execution and not being fixated on short-term market fluctuations.

40:12

🏆 Overcoming Challenges and Future Outlook for Nano One

The final paragraph wraps up the discussion by addressing the challenges and future outlook for Nano One. Blondell and Valente acknowledge the uncertainty in the market but express confidence in the company's strategy and ability to execute its business plan. They highlight the importance of securing government incentives and the need for a global strategy that can adapt to shifting market demands. The executives also discuss the significance of the company's 'design one, build many' relationship with Worley, which allows for flexibility in generating revenues from different regions. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of achieving milestones such as optimizing and validating the one-pot LFP process, securing government funding, and completing the feasibility study for the 25,000-ton plant.

Keywords

💡Lithium-ion battery cathode materials

Lithium-ion battery cathode materials are essential components used in the construction of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. They are responsible for storing lithium ions and facilitating their movement during charging and discharging cycles. In the video's context, Nano One is developing high-performance cathode materials, which are a key focus of their technology and growth strategy. The company aims to innovate in this area to improve battery performance and sustainability.

💡Market opportunity

The market opportunity refers to the potential for financial success and growth that a company can achieve within a specific industry or sector. In the video, the market opportunity for cathode materials outside of China by 2035 is estimated to be around $117 billion, indicating a significant potential for Nano One to expand its business and capture a share of this growing market.

💡LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate)

LFP, or Lithium Iron Phosphate, is a type of cathode material used in lithium-ion batteries, known for its safety, longevity, and thermal stability. It is one of the main focuses for Nano One's technology development. The company aims to lead the charge of LFP production outside of China, targeting a significant portion of the market opportunity.

💡One-pot technology

The one-pot technology is a processing method that Nano One uses to simplify the production of lithium ion battery cathode materials. It is designed to reduce complexity, capital expenditure (CAPEX), operational expenditure (OPEX), and environmental impact. The technology is central to Nano One's value proposition, as it allows for the efficient and sustainable production of cathode materials, which is a key differentiator in the market.

💡Supply chain

Supply chain in this context refers to the network of organizations, activities, information, and resources involved in the production and delivery of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Nano One's technology aims to domicile these supply chains in the West, away from China, by eliminating wastewater and discharge, which is a significant environmental advantage over current methods.

💡Revenue streams

Revenue streams are the different sources through which a company generates income. For Nano One, these streams include operating their pilot and manufacturing facility in Quebec, building larger commercial plants, and licensing their technology to global operators. This diversification of revenue streams is crucial for the company's growth and financial stability.

💡Strategic partnerships

Strategic partnerships are alliances formed between companies to achieve common business goals. In the video, Nano One has formed partnerships with companies like Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Metal Mining to advance their technology and access new markets. These partnerships are vital for accelerating Nano One's growth and market penetration.

💡Geopolitical changes

Geopolitical changes refer to shifts in political relationships and power dynamics between countries and regions. The video discusses how geopolitical changes are affecting supply chains, making the diversification and security of supply chains increasingly important. Nano One's technology aims to contribute to more secure and diversified supply chains, particularly in battery materials.

💡Environmental standards

Environmental standards are the guidelines and regulations set to protect the environment and promote sustainable practices. The video highlights how Nano One's technology adheres to higher environmental standards compared to traditional methods, particularly in waste management and energy use, which is crucial for operating in Western markets.

💡Feasibility study

A feasibility study is a detailed analysis conducted to assess the viability of a project or business case. In the context of the video, Nano One is undertaking a feasibility study for a 25,000-ton LFP plant, which involves site selection, permitting, and financial planning. The completion of this study is a significant milestone for the company's expansion plans.

💡Off-take agreements

Off-take agreements are contracts in which one party agrees to buy a certain amount of product from another party over a specified period. In the video, Nano One is working towards securing off-take agreements, which are essential for validating their technology and materials, and for driving future sales and revenue.

Highlights

Nano One is developing high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials with a focus on processed technology.

The cathode material is a combination of lithium, nickel, magnesium, cobalt, iron, and phosphorus, which are crucial for energy storage in lithium batteries.

The market opportunity for cathode materials outside China is projected to be around $117 billion by 2035, with LFP (lithium iron phosphate) dominating the market.

Nano One's technology addresses the need for diverse cathode materials and aims to lead the charge of LFP production outside of China.

The company has multiple revenue streams, including pilot and manufacturing facilities, larger commercial plants, and licensing their technology globally.

Nano One's 'one pot' technology simplifies the production process, reduces costs, and has a lower environmental impact by eliminating wastewater.

The technology promotes secure and diversified supply chains, which is increasingly important due to geopolitical changes.

Nano One has a strategic partnership and growth strategy with Warley, aiming to accelerate and broaden market opportunities.

CFO Carlo Valente brings extensive experience in finance, having worked with growth companies in mining and clean tech sectors.

Valente was attracted to Nano One due to the team, commercial viability, and the large addressable market with high scalability.

Nano One has made significant progress through partnerships, including a strategic alliance with Rio Tinto and the acquisition of Johnson Matthey Battery Materials.

The company is working with Sumitomo Metal Mining to develop lithium iron phosphate and explore market opportunities.

Nano One's technology is designed to be modular, making it easier to replicate and deploy globally without custom engineering.

The partnership with Worley allows for the global expansion of Nano One's technology through licensing and engineering packages.

The company is focused on customer validation and has ongoing partnerships with OEMs for material validation in the automotive industry.

Nano One is considering the need for government incentives to compete with established supply chains and grow the market.

The company is well-positioned to execute its business plan and is focused on bringing in partners and moving projects forward.

Investors should look out for milestones such as the completion of the feasibility study, site selection for the 25,000-ton plant, and progress in government funding.

Nano One is innovatively addressing the challenges in the battery supply chain and is positioned to capture opportunities in the growing market.

Transcripts

Nano one is a developer of high

performance lithium ion battery cathode

materials we've got CEO Dan Blondell and

CFO Carlo Valente joining us to discuss

Nano one and its growth plans and

opportunities I'm Martin Gago with

Market radius research it's Friday May

the 24th please remember this is neither

recommendation nor investment advice

we're here to learn about the company

gentlemen thank you very much uh for

joining us great to be here Martin thank

you thanks for having us Dan just to set

the table here so to speak can you give

us the quick one minute elevator pitch

on what nano1 is what it does and the

opportunity you have uh in front of

yourself here yeah sure uh Martin so n91

we're a technology company uh focused on

processed technology to make lithium

mind battery cathode materials um and

for everyone just so to to set the stage

for everyone the cathode material is the

combination of the lithium and nickel

magnes and Cobalt or the iron and the

phosphorus there are many different

materials that kind of go into it but

that's that's what uh makes a functional

material store energy in a lithium mind

battery um the the total Market

opportunity let's say in 2035 is about

$1 170 billion dollar of cath material

being made outside of China um uh with

roughly a third of that being

lfp um uh the balance uh uh nickel-based

and uh and also a small smaller amount

of maganese based cathood materials our

technology addresses all of that and uh

our first Target is lfp but um we have

long much longer range goals on the

nickel and manganese based materials uh

just to give everyone context lfp is

probably 99% of the world's lfp is is

dominated in China today uh they're at

about 60 to 70% lfp market share and the

rest of the world is just waking up to

that right now and this is really the

big opportunity is for us to lead that

charge of lfp um outside of China uh we

have multiple revenue streams uh that

start with our existing pilot in and

Manufacturing facility in Quebec lead

into larger commercial plants and

ultimately the really the big uh the big

revenue streams come from licensing our

technology to uh uh to players around

the world and operators who are looking

to build out cathode uh U facilities and

infrastructure the one pot technology

which underpins all everything we do

here uh helps us cut down complexity in

capex and Opex and energy and CO2

footprint we completely eliminate all

the Wastewater and discharge um that

that China currently has in their supply

chains and that enables us to domicile

these Supply chains in the west uh and

is really fundamental to widescale

adoption in uh in Europe in the US and

Canada actually even in many Asian

countries as well and then lastly the

one poot technology leverages battery

materials that are actually are refined

in free trading jurisdictions like

Canada and the US and and other places

so that brings more secure and

diversified Supply chains uh to the

world which of course is becoming

increasingly important as we see the

geopolitical U changes in uh in Supply

chains the technology as I said um uh is

brings savings and advantages uh to lfp

uh nickel based materials and maganese

based materials and we have a design

want uh build many growth strategy uh

that we announced recently with warley

and I believe we're going to be

discussing more detail here today uh

that really helps us drisk accelerate

and broaden uh the the market

opportunity I've just talked about got

lots of Partnerships we can get into and

uh and we have the only lfp plant

currently outside of Asia and and the

most experienced team outside of Asia

located here in Canada uh on the on the

East Coast uh just outside of Montreal

look forward to talking about it in

quite a bit more detail I know that was

more than a minute but that's pretty

much record time for me uh in terms of

running people through the value

proposition

well that was very dense you covered a

lot of material in those few minutes so

uh that was excellent I appreciate that

Dan Carlo uh welcome uh this is the

first time you've participated in one of

these with us you're new to Nano um

could you introduce yourself your

experience and and I guess what I'd like

to also dig into a little bit you're

you're an experienced CFO you could have

worked at a lot of various other clean

tech or other technology companies why

did you choose to work with Nano and

more specifically what sort of what

parts of your skill set matched up with

the needs of what uh Nano is looking to

do and I'm just trying to use that to

get a a bit of a window into the

direction of what's important for Nano

right now and the evolution of its

business Thanks Martin um yeah we start

by just giving a quick background I

started my career with

one of the big four accounting firms um

close to 15 years with with with PWC

spread almost evenly between Europe and

and Canada uh the last 12 years of my

career specifically I've been as CFO of

growth companies um that have had a

combination of institutional and Retail

shareholders and were predominantly in

the mining and clean tech sectors as so

know having painted a bit bit of my

background uh What attracted me to to

Nano is

um first and foremost starts with the

team um you know for for any company to

be successful you have to have uh a good

a good team uh what I liked about Nano

is the fact that there is a plant um

that that

demonstrated uh commercial viability uh

they've attracted reputable partners

that have you know done extensive due

diligence valida not only the tech but

the management team and and and I

believe they're confident that the

products uh can be commercialized um

hence there the reason why they

partnered and some of them even invested

in in Nano um when it comes to Tech I

always look at things that are that have

large uh addressable markets and and are

highly scalable and um and can be as

cookie cutter as can be instead of being

having to be bespoke on a you know

customer by customer uh basis and and

Nano definitely ticks tick that box um

know they've they've had tremendous

government support um I think being in

in that EV energy storage space there's

still a lot of support there a lot of

Market uh Tailwinds um so so in terms of

being in the right sector at the right

time I think

Nano is just in that sweet spot um and

yeah so I've just been in the growth

cycle of companies uh for the last Dozen

Years I think that's that that's where

I'm the most comfortable with and where

I can provide a lot of experience I've

negotiated uh quite a few commercial uh

agreements uh off-take agreements um

project Finance agreements uh raised

hundreds of millions of dollars of of

capital um been involved in over 200 m&a

transactions so uh given where Nano is

right now I think I

can all right Dan Nano's not a company

that puts out a news release every week

or two you you put out substantial news

releases over the last 12 or 24

months is it possible just to what do

you think are the most important news

releases that are that that have really

impacted Nano and shown its development

and growth as a a

company well I think Partnerships are

probably one of the key ones um uh and

and we brought on a lot of Partners in

the last 20 24 months of just just

almost two years ago um I would say just

under two years ago we were we were uh

dotting the eyes and crossing the teas

on three agreements uh one with Rio in

who came in uh with a $10 million us um

uh a $10 million us investment and a

strategic uh Alliance to build out iron

metal uh powder as a uh as a supply for

lfp and I'll get into that in a bit more

detail but it was fundamentally very

important obviously the brought a lot of

credibility to the company and it also

brought a very credible supply chain and

an opportunity for us to really disrupt

how lfp uh is made in the supply chains

that that are that are used in in Asia

so that really brought nano1 and and

riotinto together to build what we

believe is the cleanest greenest and

actually the most Ira compatible battery

metal supply chain on the planet today

um simply because we can work from Iron

high-r iron ore uh that comes from

Canada directly through that's that's

processed um uh with hydroelectric power

in a metallurgical process that has no

waste stream and that uh that's really

unheard of with the other battery Metals

so that's one of the things that really

brought us together um at at the same

time we actually announced the uh the

pending acquisition of Johnson Matthew

battery materials um which was a $10

million Canadian acquisition so those uh

those proceeds offset those costs uh

very nicely and and in a really good

timing fashion um that of course the

that plant gave us uh not only access to

um an existing facility but one that was

high compatible with our one pot process

had all the had all the reactors spray

dryers furnaces and everything we needed

in place all we need to do is walk in

there and dismantle all the waste

handling and and and Wastewater systems

that we don't uh we don't need and

that's all done and dusted and we're now

back up operating that plant at about

about 200 ton capacity with ambitions to

drive it up to a name plate closer to 1

or 2,000 tons and then simultaneous to

that again all this happened really at

the same time we brought on BSF and umor

as uh joint development partners and

that would be to make their nickel-based

cathode materials using our onepot

technology to cut down on cost and

complexity and and waste streams um so

that was really the the purpose of those

uh um uh those arrangements and we have

uh then led to much um uh that's led to

uh uh lot of development work with them

and actually some uh some really good

success in the lab and and at the

piloting level and then um uh the other

really big partnership in was about 6

months ago with Sumitomo metal mining um

one of the most fully integrated uh

miners in the cathode space they make uh

nickel based cathode materials for

Panasonic uh some of that going to

Japanese Automotive companies some of

that going to Tesla um so very very

reputable partner they came online to

work with us on lithium iron phosphate

and uh really looking to be a leny of

our techn technology uh a licensor of

our technology and ultimately also um uh

you know a partner in developing

co-developing uh and looking at

different Market opportunities not only

in in Japan where they uh where they're

based uh but also in other jurisdictions

around the world uh potentially as uh as

an operating partner or an investor in

in plant expansion so incredibly

important they also took a 5% Equity

stake in the company um uh for about to

the tune of about $17 million Canadian

in uh in September so all very big

validating steps for us um uh and then

and then you know on top of that you

know the other news has really been

about progress progress at the candiac

plant closing that deal getting in the

door um um piloting you know build

building the uh the smaller portion of

of the pilot in that plant but also at

the same time leveraging the existing

full scale equipment to drisk the

technology uh uh and start sampling

materials out at not only at the 100

kilog scale but even towards the uh the

ton level scale uh that's with our

Automotive partners and and so you know

all of these pieces all come together

fundamentally to build a a really strong

case for us not only we have operating

Partners we have um we have supply chain

Partners we've got OEM Partners um and

then lastly we signed the warle deal

just a month ago and that really brings

uh a deployment partner to the table

someone who can really help us uh Accel

at the commercialization of our

technology and help us design build and

and and propagate our technology in the

form of Licensing plant out um not only

in Canada North America uh but in many

jurisdictions around the world so really

they've got obviously a very big bench

strength and uh uh and as a

multinational company with 50,000

employees they have a tremendous

Salesforce and tremendous reach um into

uh into markets that simply we you know

we hadn't even begun to tap yet so um

very excited about that relationship

just kicked it off um uh but uh but have

been talking to them for several years

now so we're uh were very much

anticipating um uh sort of very rapid

growth and and and very much interest

from not only their customer base but

ours some of of which overlaps lot to

talk about but as you said uh we've had

a lot of uh a lot of fundamental news

over the years as

well I since you finished on the the war

Le I'd like to dig into that a little

bit more um it took me a few reads and

some conversations with you guys to

better understand I guess the magnitude

of it back in January you announced an

engineering agreement with BBA and now

it's with warley and C can you I guess

just to clarify who's who's doing what

in there is warley doing the engineering

or are they just your licensing partner

how does each one do what with uh Fano

yeah well you know I think look a lot of

your listeners kind of come from the um

the mining space and they'll understand

the sort of some of the language we

completed a pre-feasibility study last

year uh in the in the in Q3 and um that

uh led us to uh uh then into a

feasibility study which we call a F3 or

frontend loaded um a level three uh

engineering study and that uh that takes

the uh the plant design to a level where

you're where you you know the site and

you're figuring out all the uh you know

basically all the

localization of the of the plant so you

know how you how you how you how you

Plum it into the to the local uh

ecosystem be that you know power Hydro

uh um uh you know and and and got all

all the basically the permitting that's

needed on the particular land base you

have so you you need a site you need the

uh you need the engineering plans and

that's what BBA uh signed on to do and

that's what they are continuing to do um

in in parallel to that we uh we have uh

we have some of the uh warly Team

actually on the management side helping

us with the design of that but the but

that's not really that's kind of

separate from the deal we just cut with

with warle with warley what we're

talking about here is now taking that

fel3 when it's complete and then

wrapping that into what we would call an

F4 detailed design um and that what

that's what ends up in the design

package um uh BBA is still very much

involved through to to the end of that

and if we that if that facility uh gets

to a financial independent uh DEC a

financial decision um then we would

proceed with building that plant let's

say in uh uh in Canada and warley may uh

uh be involved in some of the detailed

design work of that but um uh but

ultimately the really the big prize for

warley and Nano one is taking all that

work we've done up front there putting

it into a much larger sort of detail

design package wrapping in all of the

key pieces of equipment uh the flow

sheets of course the the one poot

process uh the the intellectual property

rights and that all gets bundled into a

wrapper which can then be cookie cuted

around the world in uh in any number of

Fashions it's kind of a modular design

and and the concept here is that Nano

one's technology because I think

primarily because we get rid of all the

Wastewater handling and all of the uh

sulfate waste handling we have none of

that um the the technology is much

easier to modularize because you don't

have to do a whole bunch of custom

bespoke engineering every time you put

it on a piece of land you got to do a

little bit just to to localize it to the

to the local standards but you don't

really have to deal with all these

externalities that a typical process

would be so so warle came to nanan

looking exactly for this kind of

technology that could be modularized and

and and flopped down around the world in

in in jurisdictions all over the place

and they they just they simply have the

the bench strength and the uh and and

the wherewithal to be able to do that

they can build plants in parallel uh

they can build uh you know oneline

plants or 10line plants uh um all of

that is really key now they're not

necessarily going to be building it

it'll be whoever whoever's a local

engineering company could be warle could

be whoever kind of bids on the tender

the key thing with nano1 award is this

is a licensed package we do all this

engineering up front don't have to do

any custom engineering it enables us to

drive the cost down of a plant um and

and and by driving that cost down of the

plant we're able to extract a license

from that that's we we're basically

monetizing the savings we bring the

customer and uh now whether uh you know

whether warle then wins the package to

build that or someone else does that'll

depend on the jurisdiction and wherever

the things being built hopefully that

makes a little more sense okay that does

a lot of detail when I look at let's say

given a lot of the audience are are

mining uh people with M expertise in the

mining industry when they're building a

a Refinery processing system at a

mindsight they have to really tune it to

the feed stock that is there and and

design it for that I is your system

Dynamic enough I guess that you can

basically have the same system like

you're saying the one design gets

replicated through the place where you

you don't need to do major design

changes you can just turn some knobs and

dials to accommodate whatever feed stock

or whatever output that the uh client

wants specific character istics yeah I

mean look that's more or less it I mean

the feed St coming in it's going to be

purified you know Iron uh iron powder

products phosphoric acid uh lithium

carbonate um all kind of at battery

grade and you'll you'll basically

offtake those from any number of

jurisdictions in the world but they're

largely standardized at that point and

you don't have to we don't have to

customize the process for that so the

spec on the input materials is fairly I

would say it's rigid but we have some

flexibility we can go from uh metallic

iron ped uh metal powders or oxides in

the case of nickel we can go from we can

go from nickel metallic nickel powder or

maganese powder or or oxides or

hydroxides or carbonates so there's a

variety of different feed stocks that

may influence you know how you how you

how you do the reactions up front in the

reactors but um uh but there's a you

know there's enough flexibility in the

system that you can you can customize a

little bit of that in the but it would

be basically be all part of the package

it's kind of there'd be maybe some alak

cart stuff uh that comes with it but uh

but by and large you can do this uh do

this without having to do uh custom

engineering that's specific to a site or

a

location all right also going back to

the warly deal when we first met and you

first gave me a tour I don't know seven

eight years ago at your first uh

facility out in bernabe you at that time

you didn't know what your business model

was your Revenue model would you build

your own facilities or license that

obviously is getting more uh

clarified now and and that this warly

deal I guess just to emphasize it that

that this is showing additional revenue

streams and possibilities for you where

you're partnering on the implementation

of it as well can you sort of uh clarify

all all those Revenue uh opportunities

additionally maybe I'll pass the puck to

Carlo on this one sure I think Martin

you have to look at it there's three

different revenue streams now we have an

existing plant um that as Dan mentioned

is currently at about 200 tons we'd be

looking to expand at somewhere between a

th000 to 2,000 tons um so that will be

its own

Standalone uh Revenue generator plus

demonstration plan that we would bring

future Partners lenses to um and and you

know and show the process and and um and

the end product um the BBA uh project

the you know what's referred to is the

25,000 ton parandom lfp plant in in our

public

disclosures consider that you you you

made there's the analogy to a mining

project consider that like a mining

project right that's going on right now

that's just the first

plant um permit's being worked on the

site selection all this all of the

project financing government support um

and there'll be eventual off takes um

that's its own that that will be its own

operating entity with a capital stack um

that'll evolve um between now and when

we get to the financial close uh on that

so consider that a

standalone producing mine uh if you want

if want to stick with the with the

mining uh

analogy the high volume Global expansion

will likely come through the warle uh

Alliance right that's where we as a

technology company joining with a you

know the Global

Engineering uh and scaleup uh expert um

that's where we will be selling the the

heart of the plant in a package which is

certain pieces of equipment some of

which will be

proprietary um as well as the

engineering the flow sheets and R1 pot

technology

so they'll the fee will not just be the

revenues there will not just be

licensing there'll be a bigger pie to

share between us and worldle because

there will be procurement of equipment

and and engineering and that's and

that's going to be the revenue stream

Where um we expect um High volumes from

um and and for it to be

Global the next milestones for your

development um with war

that is how the next sort of the

implementation of your process will be

put into place what kind of rough

timeline uh can investors expect for

this is this like a six or a nine month

is this a 12 24mon process where you can

you'll have the design and be able to

let's say shop it around and and find

customers for

it Carl do you want to continue with

that it's kind of DB tals into what

you're talking about yeah yeah I I think

it'll be fluid Martin um like I don't

think I don't think we're going to wait

for a certain date and where we're at

with the with the uh with the product to

go to market those discussions have

already occurred uh as Dan mentioned we

have relationships warly other

relationships some of those are

overlapping just by way of that news

release a few weeks ago uh there were

some inbound to both parties from from

some of those part uh those relation

ships um those potential Partners so I

think it's going to be fluid um and and

then we're going to initiate discussions

early uh quite soon and and then when we

have a product that's ready uh to to

show them um we will but I think it's

going to be a fluid and iterative

process as opposed to saying um by said

date um we're going to deliver a our

first cam package to to go to market

Market um and and we expect the license

Feld to follow shortly thereafter um I'd

say the wheels are already in motion um

yeah and uh and it's going to be a fluid

process with with uh with

counterparties could you give any like

obv I would presume you won't be able to

announce anything like that in June that

would be just too soon but could there

be announcement out of that deal coming

by the end of the calendar year or is

that more of a maybe a

2025 uh event can just give some broad

indications to

that yeah I go ahead K yeah maybe I'll

just chime in look I think I think we we

break as Carlos said we kind of we're

breaking this really into three

different Revenue opportunities there's

this there's the candiac there's the

25,000 ton plant the mine as as as Carlo

put it and and the and the and the

grander sort of Licensing opportunity

they all feed into each other but

everything that happens in kyak and this

existing plant is really key to this

that's where the off takes come from

that's where the approving that's where

the first revenues will be generated so

that's the kind of where the that's

where the shortterm first revenues are

uh will will come from we already have

small capacity there uh we're out uh

we're in a validation stage uh with a

number of OEM but also with a number of

really small players as well and uh

that's going to I think that's where

we'll start to see the first uh uh

really the first revenues come in and

and those validation points those first

revenues will drive decisions on the

large 25,000 ton facility and they will

drive uh decisions on the uh uh on the

on the much larger and longer term uh

cam package uh licensing revenues so I

think we have to we have to think about

it kind of in three ways and they're and

they're all Interlink um they're all

going to be incredibly kind of important

that they uh but they can happen in

parallel which is kind of nice the one

thing that doesn't happen in parallel is

really the off take and validation that

just

that's the thing that drives all of this

once we start to see validation all the

other pieces start to fall into place

actually relatively quickly that's why

it's kind of hard to guide anyone on on

the timeline on it but at the same time

um you know we're we're quite far

Advanced we have the only lfp facility

outside of outside of uh Asia uh that

gives us a tremendous Advantage because

we can actually and not only can we

qualify the materials um you know with

with our existing assets we can do it in

fulls scale equipment no one else has

that luxury and so we can drisk the

scale up of this very easily everything

else is plumbing and and as I like to

say it's just it's pretty much just you

just to Plum the major pieces of

equipment put the Materials Handling in

place relatively lowrisk engineering

Endeavors and uh and most sophisticated

investors and uh and partners can know

that and can see that having warle at

the table really reinforcing that is

going to be uh is going to be very

important so we you know all the pieces

are in place for this thing to uh to

accelerate very quickly obviously what

we do in candiac is going to be

fundamental to to catalyzing all of that

hopefully that's U and it doesn't bring

any Clarity to the to the timelines but

give gives you a sense of where our

Focus needs to be and and how that will

uh feed into the uh into the really the

platform that we set up for this thing

to really

accelerate all right as you scale up

candiac or other facilities you've got a

very healthy balance sheet here

do you and and everything is a moving

there are a lot of moving Parts here so

it's hard to um uh know exactly the

precise route you'll be taking but are

you do you have sufficient Financial

Resources to be able to move the get the

the business plan forward as needed

there was ever a CFO question that was

it yeah yeah

yeah I'd say um we definitely have funds

to progress

uh many of these

initiatives uh if we're talking

about completing FID on on the on the

big plant and completing

expansion um of candak to a th000 to

2,000 ton facility um I think as we as

we disclose in our latest mdna

financials probably need need more

capital for that um we we're we're

working closely with different

provincial Federal even um US government

agencies uh on many new programs um that

we've applied for um that we that we

qualify for so now we're just waiting to

see um the level um and timing of of

support and and I think that will help

Drive some of the pace Martin on on how

quickly we we pull the trigger on

certain things and and and expand um and

you know at the same time we we do have

some discretionary items in our

objectives and forecast so we'll we'll

we'll we'll see how the government uh

support plays out in terms of amounts

and timing and and then we'll we'll make

some decisions

accordingly okay I've got a ton of

questions myself I'd love to ask but we

have a lot of audience questions here

that I want to get to so let's um I'm

going to start throwing some of these

out in a recent interview Co Alex Holmes

spoke about customer validation cycle he

said the validation process for auto

oems is two to four years has this

validation cycle started with any Auto

oems and if if so roughly how long the

process are

you well I can jump into there so as we

have disclosed in other news releases as

well I'm sure many of our shareholders

are aware of that um we have uh we do

have some fairly deep Partnerships and

and uh with oems and we have been

working on not only technology

development but also validation uh of

our materials so uh the short answer to

that question is yes the validation

Cycles have begun and um and the way the

automotives typically work is um uh

they'll validate you'll get to spec uh

you hit the right spec they have um they

may end up moving that spec over time as

well but as you do that you go into a

sampling and B sampling and C sampling

eventually into a vehicle

so the uh yeah it takes you know uh car

companies are planning their vehicle

five years ahead of time so you've got

to be in the door five years ahead of

time and we are in the door and have

been for uh for some time so uh yeah

that's well underway I would say um as

you go into a sampling B sampling C

sampling you will there will be spot

demand for materials um so we will see

revenue generated from that but it'll be

in a you know it'll be spotlike in the

sense that there'll be lumpy demand for

for maybe tens of uh

you know tens or hundreds of tons of

material to go into a uh to go into a

test cycle and and that's all part of

building that um building that momentum

now the the key thing about an

automotive company when they hit go on a

on a Automotive plant they're going to

need uh not just 10,000 tons they're

going to need you know many tens of

thousands of tons to feed the the the

cell manufacturing that feeds their

Automotive plant so you have to be able

to build up to that we can't just

suddenly put $50,000 tons of production

into place it starts it starts you know

starts in our existing plant at a at a

couple thousand at a thousand or 2,000

tons our ambition is to get there it

that enables us to do all all that

sampling generate some spot revenue from

the automotive companies but the rest of

that volume is going to be picked up by

much smaller players they're going to be

in the defense industry they're going to

be in the um the battery en energy

storage industry for for storing energy

from renewable energy Sun uh sorry solar

wind ET better and and those those um uh

revenue streams those smaller off takes

are were going to be really important to

filling out the volume in the first kind

of thousand tons and also the first

15,000 tons and the first 25,000 tons

they will play a fundamental role in

that ultimately that brings your your

production volumes up uh to a point

where you can then start uh feeding much

larger uh Automotive volumes so um I

think it's important for shareholders to

understand you need a blend of all of

this uh to make this work um um

obviously you don't want to you don't

want all your eggs in one basket and at

the same time you want to be able to

have a a variety of different off-takers

at different volumes to be able to um uh

to be able to to to to basically hedge

the lumpiness in the market as it starts

to tip up once volumes get once we start

to get over 25 or 50,000 tons I think it

all really starts to feed itself uh and

it levelized but in the in the initial

uh component here it's really important

to have um all of that in place so we

are validating uh really with players

anywhere from you know very small

defense contractors through to ESS

through to through to the uh electric

vehicle market and not just in North

America but in jurisdictions in in Asia

and Europe as

well

okay can North America and Europe

compete with China on lfp battery costs

and for you what type of tariff or would

tariffs be necessary uh to be put in

place to be competitive with uh Chinese

uh

product it's a great question so um uh

China look China dominates the uh the

lfb space and the nmc space for that

matter I mean they look they uh they

control most of the world's uh nickel

nickel sulfate uh manganese manganese

sulfate a precursor uh that's the

combination of the nickel manganese and

Cobalt um they uh control all of the

world's iron sulfate it's actually a

it's actually a a uh tailing or a waste

stream from tio2 or titanium oxide um

Mining and refining

um and and the challenges th challenge

with those U those methodologies those

processes it gives China a tremendous

Advantage because they control all that

market very hard to copy China like's

say to bring their their cathode

manufacturing and put it anywhere else

in the world simply because they've got

a 10-year Head Start and from a cost

point of view it's very hard to compete

uh with uh with China on that but also

um it's very hard to take those those

methods and bring them into a North

American context because they have

actually big Wastewater and uh and and

and chemical waste streams which China

tolerates because their environmental

standards are

lower and and we uh we aspire to be much

better stewards of the environment

obviously in the west uh and actually

many other parts of Asia as well so it's

incredibly important that you actually

have to solve those problems really

before you build that up and that is

really what nanan's mandate is I mean we

are trying to solve the big problems

that will enable us to scale that that

brings me to to your question is that

not only do we need to be competitive on

an on a on a cost front we believe we

can from a from an lfp point of view

because we have we combine that

precursor process and the lithiation cam

process into one so we have fewer piece

of equipment we don't we don't have the

margin stack because we're not two

different entirely different businesses

um and uh we cut down the amount of

equipment we improved the yield uh uh

and all of that so in in the uh you know

in in the distant future we could easily

compete we think with China simply

because we've got a we've got a much

lower uh we got a lower cost base from a

an equipment uh and uh and Manufacturing

Opex and energy point of view and that's

when you when you look at it from

jurisdiction to jurisdiction so that's

that's that's really uh about competing

um in North America on North America

terms using either the Chinese

technology or the nanan technology the

same applies to Korea or Morocco or

wherever you might be citing these

facilities um it's important to be able

to look at it from a jurisdictional

point of view within that jurisdiction

can you compete um um with with China

and look every one of these jurisdiction

wants this business they will put the

incentives in place to bring that

business in there and they realize they

have to be competitive they have to

provide the incentives for the volumes

to go up uh to then be competitive with

um with uh with China do you need to

tariffs in place not necessarily do you

need the incentives yes I think it's

important China has has grown their

markets based on incentives uh you know

they've incentivized local producers to

get where they are and and we're seeing

the same thing whether that be in Korea

Canada the US uh um in Europe so

incentives are really really key I I

think tariffs and and Duties are are are

kind of icing on the cake I think you

have to be able to compete uh uh in the

long run steady state uh you got to be

able to have a cost competitive and

environmentally competitive um solution

for the market um and uh and that has to

be independent of tariffs and and uh and

duties uh but you know meanwhile they

are icing on the cake and we'll take it

take that but what's really key to that

is is the government incentives um

because that's what helps nurture the uh

the supply chain to get up to the

volumes that can then be competitive

because it is a volumes game at the end

of the day uh uh and uh and and but you

know we're starting uh we're starting

find the eightball uh China Korea Japan

are way ahead of us and uh in order to

get there you need government support

and incentives to really encourage

growth um once it's going I think that's

when the incentives can start to back

off and the and the businesses will uh

be able to compete on their own um

that's kind of the way I I I look at it

and and I I you know I believe that uh

we have that capability we certainly

have the support here in Canada and

we're starting to see that kind of

support even even you know crossb

support from the us as well Carl I don't

know if you add to that at all I kind of

took a long time to answer that question

but yeah no I think to key points lower

Opex lower capex um you couldn't even

permit one of those plants and in in the

western world or other parts of

uh of Asia as well or the indopacific

okay yeah look and investment in

traction is is a big big thing right now

so um you know uh and and every so every

country is is dealing with this they're

going to put the incentives in place to

uh to grow that business they want the

whole supply chain to do that they we've

got to incentivize companies to come

there rather than uh incentivizing

people to to buy from the existing uh

Supply chains and so that's that's

really important but um uh you know I

think those are temporary measures and

and and that's just until the volumes

get up to uh up to scale and can be uh

can be

competitive okay

are you still shooting for an off-take

agreement in the first half of

2024 well given yes we are shooting for

that and in the second half and into

2025 and into 2026 um you don't stop

with one sales agreement so yeah look

we're working hard at it obviously we're

almost through the first half of 2024

and we haven't announced anything um but

yeah look we're constantly working on

that I can't guide anyone on it but uh

yeah we look we've got a massive

Business Development effort underway uh

we've got a lot of really good partners

um as I said uh you know we've got a

we've got this facility where we can we

we're able to drisk at full scale and uh

and be able to provide U materials that

are manufactured of full scale equipment

all of that plays into uh into what

we're doing and we're various levels of

validation with with a number of

different parties uh it takes time to

put all this stuff in place but uh yeah

well

underway all right within the lfp world

it's almost all in China right now you

can't be the only person working on the

lfp the cathode uh solutions for the the

cathode Market can you talk about the

competitive landscape outside of

China yeah um so uh you know this is an

interesting thing the Korean uh Koreans

are the other big really big sort of

national sort of cathode producer right

now but they largely rely on China uh

and they're mostly nickel-based they

have been traditionally up till a year

and a half ago they were staunt

uh nickel-based uh and they get all

their nmc precursor from China the

majority of lithium hydroxide from China

but when the IRA kicked in um uh a year

and a half ago um what we started you

know for Korea was very existential

because because their supply chains came

from China and they were hooked on it

they really uh had to really kind of

rethink it they couldn't as Carlo said

they couldn't bring that technology they

couldn't export that technology and then

import it into uh into Korea because

they it comes with all the Environmental

issues so you got a whole bunch of

Permitting challenges so um what uh I

think what we've seen from the Koreans

and we're going to see from the rest of

the world is that lfp needs to be

rethought you can't just uh you I mean

sorry cathod materials needs to be

rethought lfp is the easiest way uh is

the easiest cathode material to start

producing um in other parts of the world

because it's not as complicated to uh uh

to decouple from the nickel magnesium

Cobalt comination that China has so

having said all that who are the

competitors so um look the Koreans are

trying to get there they're kind of

weighing do we just try and copy China

or do we uh do we try and invest in

Innovation uh we're seeing uh a number

of North American uh um efforts underway

and European efforts um most of them are

either

licensing um some existing outdated

technology um uh that we're we're kind

of well aware very very similar to what

we had uh what we replaced at candiac um

that's very difficult to scale or

they're simply trying to copy China the

problem with copying China is you're

going to rely on their iron sulfate

supply chain so you don't you won't ever

break if you copy China you won't be

able to break away from the iron sulfate

and iron phosphate that China largely um

controls because they really have the

only feed stock in the world for that so

you have to kind of innovate away from

that and so we're one of the few players

that are innovating away from that by

going to iron metal powders uh we're not

the only one uh there's uh some very

small players in in Asia and uh sorry in

Europe and uh but most of the other uh

most of the other players are really

ostensibly copying um either either what

we replaced at at um at candiac or uh or

copying uh what happened in China and

and how how it works in China and by and

large those are very hard to scale in

North American or or Western

context you you've accomplished a lot in

from you when you first started out here

you've got amazing partners and and

you've got a lot of

validation what should investors view as

the biggest risks going forward is it

technology risk or just general scaling

or business scaling can you execute on

off take agreements um a lot of a lot of

aspects that have been due risk but what

are the biggest I know what keeps you

awake at night that sort of a a

thing Carl do you want to jump in here

and then I can I can pile

on sure um for me risk is

normally as a finance person is the

timelines

to uh to cash flow um and that's going

to be tied to Broad Market

acceptance um and a bit of the the shift

and Supply chains and and and and some

of the thinking um and uh you know

continuous availability of of capital um

so those would be my my uh my my risk

areas as a as a

CFO yeah maybe maybe I'll I'll you know

add to that um you know one of the

things that is it's it's it's one of the

things is how the narrative is Shifting

right now I think in the marketplace um

obviously we're seeing a little bit of a

a little bit of a pulling back on the on

the very large ambitious EV narrative

and that's largely because look

governments and and big autoco made big

promises for 2025 and the reality

setting in and and they're not hitting

them um but it doesn't mean the demand

is going away there's still far more

demand than there is Supply in terms of

in terms of the supply chain in in North

America so we still see a very very

healthy robot pipeline of demand coming

forward and despite the narrative in the

you know the headlines and the the uh

obviously in social media and the paper

um we uh we still see on the ground very

very good um uh very good Dynamics but

the the risks are are uh are how you

know how quickly can we actually shift

away and decouple from the dominance of

China um how quickly can we convince the

automotive companies and governments to

support Innovative processes that

actually um de decouple and diversify

those Supply change because that's

really in our mind fundamental to the to

the growth strategy U I think the West

is largely bet on high nickel materials

and there is some flaw logic in that

given that China is at 60 to 70% lfp um

uh so how quickly can the West shift

from nmc to lfp mentality we all already

seen most of the major automotives of

starting to make announcements about

shifting some of their platforms to lfp

um so that's going to be uh fundamental

so the timing on that is really key and

that kind of speaks to what uh uh I

think uh you know what Carlo was

speaking to timing and cash flow uh you

know when does that all start to roll

and when do all the right Pieces come

into play so you know those are those

are some of the the larger um uh shifts

in the in the market that uh to some

degree are out of our control we're

trying to influence them of course U but

to some degree out of our control the

stuff that is in our control which I

think uh you know investors and

shareholders need to keep their eye on

is the um uh is really our progress uh

and and towards first sales and revenues

because first sales and revenues really

um mean that there is Market acceptance

for the quality of our materials once

there is Market acceptance for that we

believe that is the Tipping Point that

will drive uh Drive growth be that from

from us or actually even even some of

our competitors once we start to see lfp

being sold in the marketplace I think

then um then we'll start to see uh much

larger growth in terms of cell

production and Automotive commitment to

putting those celles in their vehicles

and that um those are those are the

signals to watch out for specifically

from Nano one it's look it's about off

takak sales and revenues um obviously

that's going to drive the that's going

to make the company not only healthier

but it's going to be a really strong

signal that this Market Market

acceptance for not only for our product

but for the underlying process for

making that product that we plan to

license out to the larger Global

Community all right you mentioned

earlier that incentives are important uh

for the the establishment of the the

sort of local supply chain and there

also seemed there there a lot of there's

a lot of uh elections happening a very

important elections happening this year

and next year uh in North

America and with the there's let's call

it a bit of a backlash against ESG in

certain communities do you think there

is there a lot of political risk

attached to nano1 on who wins this

election or or that given uh the

importance of incentives or other

tariffs or or things like

that well look I think there's there's

certainly uncertainty and and that uh uh

you know I I would be um be remiss not

to point that out there's a lot of

uncertainty but but I I think that for

Nano one um most of it is fairly neutral

for us because we see enough uh demand

and there's enough commitment already

from the automotive companies uh to go

to lfp which is our first chosen kind of

go-to Market that that that's coming no

matter what no matter who gets into in

into power and and and where it goes

we're going to see um uh and if if

things slow down further in North

America look the the the automotive

Market is Gang Busters uh in in Europe

Mainland Europe is still very very

committed to ESG all the automotive

manufacturers there are still very

committed and so we see a lot of growth

potential there as well and and and look

it's going to be lumpy over the years

there's no doubt about it um uh this is

a this is a massive shift away from uh

hydrocarbons to uh uh to an electrified

world and and and you're going to see

shifts in the market and it's going to

play out differently in different parts

of the world I think what what's really

important for shareholders to realize is

that we have a global strategy our

licensing strategy means that we don't

we're not we're not like a mine where

we're going to be fixed geographically

we can put a plant anywhere we anywhere

there is demand for it in the world and

that demand may shift jurisdictionally

um with different elections different

election cycles and different narratives

um but we are able to uh to address um a

very wide sector of the world and be

able to shift our Focus to different

jurisdictions particularly now with

warley um in the fold as as an active

partner and with this kind of design

once build many type of philosophies so

yeah maybe we turn our attention to

Mainline Europe or or or Asia or India

um uh uh in in a stronger way than we do

North America if North America kind of

slows down but you know we we think

we're pretty uh we're pretty

weatherproof um um as we go through

these uh these different patterns around

the world but uh um but we you know the

demand is healthy and the uh and

certainly the ESG um uh the ESG Drive is

is healthier in other regions of the

world than than than they may be in than

the winds are blowing right now in North

America but we still think there's way

more demand here than there is Supply um

you know no matter how the how the how

these uh how the patterns

shift all right we're coming up to an

hour here so we should uh wrap things up

but I I'm a shareholder and there are a

lot of shareholders on this call

presumably and everyone and I know you

yourselves are frustrated with the state

of the capital markets and the and the

share price and maybe there should be an

AI angle on nan1 just joking but

um any commentary on uh the share price

and and the capital markets and what can

or can't be done uh with

that look the the the capital markets

are where they are we're we're we're

actually healthier than I think most of

our peers everyone's taken a hit over

the last three years uh we we've we've

weathered the storm better than most um

uh and I think look we just need to keep

executing on our uh on our business plan

um keep need to bringing in Partners

pushing everything forward look the

fundamentals are all there uh the

markets may not be but they they shift

and they move uh and it goes in cycles

and uh we're well positioned for an

upcycle that's for sure we think we

think it'll go

well Carl you want to pile on to that

yeah I agree for me it's all about

execution and and eventually the reward

will be there um we can't be fixated on

shortterm upswings down swings in in the

market um we have business plan I think

we have great Partners we have great uh

product we've we've hedged ourselves to

some respect where we're not all in on

one Revenue stream or with with one

specific initiative um so I think we've

done a lot of that mitigating and

drisking and position ourselves to um um

you know to to execute now and to

capture some of that um monetize some of

that upside yeah and and actually just

to build on that I already said it

earlier too but the I think this kind of

design wantes build many relationship

with Worley really allows us to um to

tailor our our our tactics I should say

to to different regions in the world as

well so as we see Market shift um uh

enables us to to to be much more

flexible in terms of where we generate

the revenues

from all right so just to to final uh

comment or question here to to wrap it

up what sorts of Milestones or events

are you striving to achieve over the

next six to 12 months or what kind of

Milestone should investors be sort of

keeping their eyes open for uh over the

coming quarters

yeah look um obviously we continue to

optimize and validate our onepot lfp at

the plant level at the product level um

and uh that's going to be extremely

important for potential off-takers and

first sales in in the existing plant so

I think that's you know primarily that's

one of the really big objectives in 2024

and and and as I said earlier going into

2025 and 26 we we have to continue

selling of course um the uh um I think

uh some Sidelines on government funding

which will then catalyze uh some of the

financial decisions we need to make in

terms of um in terms of how quickly we

move forward on a 25,000 ton plant how

quickly we Mo move forward on automating

the existing candiac facility to get it

up to 1,00 2,000 tons that's going to

play that's going to play out um um as

uh as some of the sight lines on

Government funding come into place um we

have um we'll be we'll be continuing

ously validating the operational

conditions of our of our LP process in

the existing plant and that will then

inform the uh the development design

licensing and and ultimately uh

deployment of Cam packages with warle uh

we've just kicked that relationship off

um so as we uh as we develop the

business plan as we uh as we map out the

customer base and the and the and the

and and you know where and how fast

revenues will come uh we'll be able to

uh we'll be able to bring some of that

obviously into the spotlight not all of

it um uh so I think you know

shareholders and and and investors can

look forward to more details on that as

it as it comes forth and then um you

know I think uh things like we talked

about this earli the the the the the

work that BBA is doing on the fl3 the

feasibility study uh our expectation is

to bring that to completion uh in Q3 and

Q4 of this year so you know we're still

a 20 still very much a 24 goal uh for us

um uh with that we'll need uh we we

can't complete the feasibility study

without a site and so we're very active

looking for a site to put that uh 25,000

ton plant on it just so so everyone

knows I mean the idea is we want room to

be able to expand that because we don't

that's not the end of that plant that

project uh we think could grow to be

much larger volume so um so we need to

make sure that we have a a plant uh and

a and a jurisdiction that's willing to

support the growth uh of that uh of that

that part of our of the revenue or that

project so these are all things that I

think uh we'll we'll be able to bring

more um uh guidance to um certainly over

the uh over the next six to 12

months excellent miss anything there um

Carlo I think you capture it all then

okay well you're

busy you got a lot to do oh we do we do

look it's you know the other thing look

it's a nent market still it's amazing

actually despite despite how far uh

batteries have come for electric

vehicles and and energy storage and and

you know all of our all of our gadgets

uh uh there's still a long way for it to

go and there's uh and obviously the

supply chains are are complex and

fundamental to this um and uh you know

we're we're well positioned to try and

innovate in those Supply chains and

secure something that is very uh

powerful for for the company

all right gentlemen thank you very much

for your time that was excellent really

appreciate it very informative uh have a

great day and I looking forward to

seeing the the news flow come across the

computer and having ongoing discussions

have a great day right thanks thank you

Martin appreciate it very much have a

good weekend