TechMet-Mercuria invests in innovative battery recycling in USA

The Geneva-based TechMet-Mercuria and the American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), which is headquartered in Reno in the US state of Nevada, have entered a multifaceted strategic partnership, according to a statement. It includes the manufacturing, sales and marketing of metal products that ABTC recovers from lithium-ion batteries, as well as a non-dilutive investment by TechMet-Mercuria of up to 20 million US dollars through the upfront purchase of these recycled metal products. TechMet-Mercuria is a joint venture between TechMet, which focuses on technology metals for e-mobility, and Mercuria, one of the world's largest independent energy and commodity trading companies.

ABTC is currently undergoing commissioning of a commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Centre. It will use ABTC-developed processes to systematically break down batteries into their component parts. These processes allow for the high-efficiency separation of the engineered structural and support materials in lithium-ion batteries for sale as by-products, writes the company. This is followed by the production of a high-value black mass filter cake that has the majority of these potential contaminants removed. 

ABTC plans to use additional recycling processes to further process this intermediate black mass internally, rather than distributing it as an intermediate product. It will then manufacture its own battery cathode-grade nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium hydroxide products for sale to battery cathode refiners in the USA.

TechMet-Mercuria's co-managing director Quentin Lamarche sees “immense global demand for recycled high purity black mass materials from lithium-ion batteries, especially those materials produced in systems that have removed the majority of other battery components that would have become contaminants". ce/mm