NovX21 Inc. announced the signature of an agreement with Corporation d'initiative et de développement économique de la Ville de Thetford Mines for the development of Quebec's first precious metals recycling plant. The agreement, which will see NovX21's new plant set up in an existing building in the Thetford Mines industrial park, is a milestone on the road to commercial-scale deployment of NovX21's patented technology for the recovery of precious platinum-group metals (PGMs) from end-of-life vehicles. NovX21 has developed, patented and implemented an innovative, sustainable green technology for the recycling of catalytic converters, a key component of vehicle pollution control systems. The Company's quick, clean, affordable, energy-efficient process allows PGMs to be recovered and reused, along with almost all the components in the manufacture of catalytic converters.

NovX21's solution coincides with the convergence of a strong precious metals market and the global automobile market, with the latter being called upon to meet increasingly green standards. Recycling now plays a key role for many automotive industry players, from vehicle production through to vehicle end-of-life. In this context, the global PGM recycling market is expected to grow by 8.2% to $9 billion by 2018.