Aqua Metals Hosts First Analyst Visitor Day

Analysts tour AquaRefining™ facility operations, meet with executive team

ALAMEDA, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS), (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”), which is commercializing a non-polluting electrochemical lead recycling technology called AquaRefining™, today successfully hosted its first analyst visitor day.

The analysts were given a tour of AquaRefinery 1, located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Complex (TRIC), led by Aqua Metals’ executive management team. Analysts were able to view the critical processes at the AquaRefinery as they happened, including: battery feedstock deliveries; battery breaking and separation; desulfurization and pre-AquaRefining digestion processes; AquaRefining on simultaneously running AquaRefining modules; and shipments of lead products to customers.

Among the firms that attended the visitor day were analysts from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Euro Pacific Capital and National Securities Corporation. The day also included representation from Green Bank, which provided Aqua Metals with a $10 million loan in 2015 which is backed by a 90 percent loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“It has been a busy few months for our team as we continue to pursue our production milestones and step ever closer to full output of AquaRefined lead at TRIC,” said Dr. Stephen R. Clarke, CEO and chairman of Aqua Metals. “We aim to be as transparent as possible while protecting our IP, as we expand our operations and collaborate with new partners.  This was a valuable opportunity to open our doors to the analyst community, providing a behind-the-scenes look at our process.”

The Company expects all the analysts who attended the visitor day to update their coverage reports to reflect findings from the site visit in the coming days.   
AquaRefinery 1 is ramping towards a total production output of 120 metric tonnes of lead products per day by the end of 2017. Aqua Metals is currently also working on plans to build a second AquaRefinery and integrating AquaRefining into a to-be-named existing lead smelter with its strategic partner, Johnson Controls. Regular updates on scaling of production and other Aqua Metals news can be found on the Aqua Metals website (http://www.aquametals.com).

About Aqua Metals
Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS) is reinventing lead recycling with its patent-pending AquaRefining^TM technology. Unlike smelting, AquaRefining is a room temperature, water-based process that is fundamentally non-polluting. These modular systems allow the Company to vastly reduce environmental impact and scale lead acid recycling production capacity both by building its own AquaRefineries and licensing the AquaRefining technology to partners. This meets growing demand for lead to power new applications including stop/start automobile batteries which complement the vehicle’s main battery, Internet data centers, alternative energy applications including solar, wind, and grid scale storage. Aqua Metals is based in Alameda, California, and has built its first recycling facility in Nevada’s Tahoe Reno Industrial Complex. To learn more, please visit www.aquametals.com.

Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc., the lead acid battery recycling industry, the future of lead acid battery recycling via traditional smelters, the Company’s development of its commercial lead acid battery recycling facilities and the quality, efficiency and profitability of the Company’s proposed lead acid battery recycling operations. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Among those factors are: (1) the fact that the Company only recently commenced revenue producing operations, thus subjecting the Company to all of the risks inherent in a pre-revenue start-up; (2) risks related to Aqua Metals’ ability to raise sufficient capital, as and when needed, to develop and operate its recycling facilities; (3) changes in the federal, state and foreign laws regulating the recycling of lead acid batteries; (4) the Company’s ability to protect its proprietary technology, trade secrets and know-how and (5) those other risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 2, 2017. Aqua Metals cautions readers 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.

Aqua Metals Media Relations:
Antenna
Kimberly Setliff
415-977-1942
aquametals@antennagroup.com

Aqua Metals Investor Relations:
MZ North America
Greg Falesnik
Managing Director
Main: 949-385-6449
greg.falesnik@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us 

Released May 31, 2017