Headwaters ARC is designed as a significantly larger and more expandable platform than the Company’s previously announced Sierra ARC project. Aqua Metals has advanced to final site-specific diligence on a Midwest development opportunity that includes an existing industrial facility of approximately 150,000 square feet and approximately 50 or more acres of land, providing more than seven times the existing building footprint and more than 10 times the land area of the previously planned Sierra ARC. As part of its disciplined commercial planning process, the Company continues to evaluate development sequencing, financing structures, and implementation pathways intended to support the most efficient path to commercial deployment. The Company expects to announce its selected development path during the current quarter, subject to completion of diligence, negotiations, financing, and customary approvals.

The planned campus is expected to begin with rapid deployment of commercially proven battery preprocessing systems to produce high-specification black mass, aluminum fines, and copper fines with an initial strategic focus on lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, materials. Aqua Metals then intends to progressively integrate its proprietary AquaRefining™ technology to recover battery-grade lithium carbonate and iron phosphate from the black mass produced, creating a phased development pathway from preprocessing and materials production into higher-value domestic critical minerals recovery.

The Headwaters ARC name reflects Aqua Metals' strategic intent to move upstream in the battery recycling value chain by integrating feedstock aggregation, preprocessing, black mass production, and advanced hydrometallurgical refining within a single expandable regional platform. By verticalizing into preprocessing and locating near the emerging Great Lakes battery manufacturing base, Aqua Metals believes Headwaters ARC can reduce feedstock and scaling risk, create revenue opportunities, and establish a more resilient commercial model capable of supporting commercial activity across both stronger and weaker lithium pricing environments.