Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) said it has entered final site-specific diligence and negotiations for Headwaters ARC, a planned commercial battery recycling and critical minerals recovery campus in the Midwest, according to a press release issued July 7, 2026.

The company is evaluating a Midwest site that includes an existing industrial facility of approximately 150,000 square feet and roughly 50 or more acres of land. Aqua Metals said the site represents more than seven times the building footprint and more than 10 times the land area of its previously planned Sierra ARC project.

The company expects to announce its selected development path during the current quarter, subject to completion of diligence, negotiations, financing, and customary approvals.

Aqua Metals said Headwaters ARC would initially focus on lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery materials, deploying commercially proven preprocessing systems to produce black mass, aluminum fines, and copper fines. The company intends to subsequently integrate its proprietary AquaRefining™ technology to recover battery-grade lithium carbonate and iron phosphate from the black mass produced.

The planned campus would be located within driving distance of six major LFP gigafactory projects, according to the company. Aqua Metals cited third-party industry research projecting that recyclable LFP manufacturing scrap from regional cell production is expected to increase approximately 15 times by 2030.

"The rapid growth of LFP battery manufacturing in the United States is creating an urgent need for regional recycling, preprocessing, and lithium recovery infrastructure," said Steve Cotton, President and CEO of Aqua Metals.

To support capital formation, Aqua Metals has engaged Newmark's Advanced Manufacturing Practice Group. Newmark is advising on capital formation strategies and real estate advisory services, including structures under which third-party capital could fund land and building acquisition through a long-term triple-net lease or similar arrangement.

The company's AquaRefining™ technology has accumulated more than 5,000 cumulative operating hours at its Innovation Center at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. The proposed development remains subject to completion of diligence, definitive agreements, permitting, financing, and other customary approvals.