nickel

Recycler signs deal to produce black mass from used lithium-ion e-bus batteries

Lithium-ion battery recycling company Li-Cycle Corp has completed its battery recycling pilot plant where the Canadian produced black mass— a mixture of lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper— from used lithium-ion batteries.

The Canadian firm received 45 end-of-life lithium-ion battery modules from e-busses totalling 3,200 pounds from New Flyer Industries Canada and New Flyer of America— subsidiaries of bus manufacturer NFI Group— in Q4 of 2020.

Lithium-ion

battery

Li-Cycle Corp

recycling

Promising lithium-ion battery recycling results as research laboratory completes tests

Battery metals firm American Manganese (AMY) has reported its technology can extract 92% of lithium, nickel, and cobalt from NCA cathode scrap material.

The results were recorded by private sector research laboratory Kemetco Research after continuous operation of the leach stage of its AMY’s RecycLiCo process.

battery

American Manganese (AMY)

Japan discover cobalt supply that could feed its lithium-ion battery making demand for 88-years

Japan has announced the successful excavation of rare metals including battery critical materials cobalt and nickel from the seabed of its exclusive economic zone.

The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), commissioned by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, excavated about 650kg of cobalt-rich crust in July, according to the country’s news outlet The Japan News.

Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC)

economy

Trade and Industry Ministry

cobalt

Audi and Umicore to recover cobalt and nickel from lithium-ion batteries as they continue to pursue closed loop goal

Vehicle OEM Audi and recyclers Umicore have recovered 90% of the cobalt and nickel from the German car maker’s e-tron battery packs during the test phase of their strategic research project.

Audi and the Belgian materials technology and recycling firm will now enter the next phase of the plan to cooperate on a closed loop for cobalt and nickel materials.

The recovered materials will be used in new battery cells.

MoU paves way for Australian firm to supply recycled battery materials to Korea

Envirostream Australia, a 24% owned subsidiary of Lithium Australia, has signed a lithium-ion battery materials offtake deal that includes recycled mixed metal dust (MMD) containing cobalt, nickel and lithium.

The memorandum of understanding with South Korean battery recycler SungEel Hitech involves the exclusive supply of metals extracted from recycled lithium-ion batteries out of Australia.

Image: SungEel president Mr Kang Myung Yi and Envirostream managing director Andrew Mackenzie shake hands after signing the offtake MoU

Envirostream Australia

Lithium Australia

Lithium-ion

mixed metal dust (MMD)

Finnish partners promote EV battery materials recycling

Finnish companies Fortum and Crisolteq have teamed up to launch a materials recovery process claimed to make more than 80% of electric vehicle (EV) batteries recyclable.

Power company Fortum said the technology uses “a low-CO2 hydrometallurgical process”, developed by metal recycling services firm Crisolteq, to recover scarce battery metals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese and lithium.

lithium-ion batteries

Cheaper BESS systems 'to rival fossil-fired peaking plants'

Cheaper battery storage systems are less than 20 years away from becoming a "competitive" alternative to oil and gas-fired peaking plants, according to a new International Energy Agency (IEA) study.

The cost of battery storage is projected to “decline fast” by 2040 and global BESS capacity could reach 220 giagwatts by 2040, the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2018 said.

This would see batteries "increasingly compete with gas-fired peaking plants to manage short-run fluctuations in supply and demand"— with the scenario’s projected need for global peaking capacity set to increase by three-quarters compared to 2017.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

Saft recharges investment in India

Saft to invest in Indian rail infrastructure

French battery manufacturer Saft has bought out its India joint venture partner, Amco, as part of an expansion plan under the newly-established Saft India brand.

Saft is to expand production at its factory in Bidadi, Karnataka, including the addition of a new lithium-ion battery line.

Project ‘eyes Indonesian nickel for batteries’

Two mining firms have reportedly started working on plans in Indonesia that could pave the way for launching a battery metals production facility.

Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining is conducting a feasibility study for the proposed project with PT Vale Indonesia, according to Reuters.

Sumitomo Metal Mining

China ENFI Engineering Corp

Chinese lithium player signs Indonesia raw materials deal

China’s Beijing Easpring Material Technology has moved to increase its grip on battery raw material supplies under a preliminary long-term deal with a Canadian project in Indonesia.

Easpring’s non-binding offtake agreement with Pacific Rim Cobalt (PRC) will secure supplies of nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate— just weeks after Easpring unveiled expansion plans, saying demand for electric vehicles (EVs) had outstripped its existing lithium-ion cathode material production capacity.