Canada looks to support the development of company's proprietary battery materials recycling technology.

To support advancing battery recycling technology, the Canadian government has awarded Electra Battery Materials Corp. C$5 million (US$3.6 million) to further develop its proprietary battery materials recycling process.

Electra's battery material recycling facility is being developed alongside the company's battery-grade cobalt refinery, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Toronto.

As it positions the Ontario refinery to produce roughly 25,000 metric tons of cobalt sulfate annually, which equates to approximately 25% of the demand outside China, Electra is developing a recycling circuit for the extraction of lithium, nickel, copper, and graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries, further strengthening its position in the battery materials supply chain.

Recently, Electra successfully tested its battery materials recycling demonstration plant at the company's growing refinery complex, recovering more than 40 metric tons of end-of-life battery scrap, known as "black mass," and producing high-quality nickel, cobalt and lithium products.

Building on this success, Electra is accelerating the next phase of its recycling project to demonstrate on a continuous basis that the company's hydrometallurgical process for recovering black mass from batteries is scalable, profitable, and can be implemented at other locations.

Seeing the viability of the technology, National Resources Canada (NRCan) has committed $5 million in funding through the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program for this project.

"Today's funding announcement is a clear signal from the government of Canada of its ongoing commitment to creating a strong, sustainable EV supply chain," said Electra Battery Materials CEO Trent Mell. "While recycling critical minerals is part of our business strategy, we also remain focused on the construction of our cobalt sulfate refinery and look forward to updating the market with funding developments to restart construction."

Recycling and recovery of these critical battery materials would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electric vehicle supply chain and decrease reliance on foreign countries for minerals critical to the energy transition.

"Our recycling project is part of the growth plan for the refinery complex and we are thankful for this investment as it allows us to speed up the development of our proprietary battery metals recycling technology," said Mell. "Electra's black mass recycling expertise can contribute to the production of clean, secure and ethically sourced materials for the EV supply chain in North America."

Recycling end-of-life products for critical battery materials also bolsters the overall economic viability of the Ontario cobalt refinery, where the hydrometallurgical recycling circuit is co-located.

"Recycling of battery materials will become more critical as the EV industry expands within North America," Mell continued. "Our refinery is positioned to be the first-of-its-kind for recycling, a hydrometallurgical black mass facility in North America, and could provide recycling as a service to the many gigafactories coming to Ontario."

The company will also explore the potential of isolating cobalt from nickel contained in the mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) product to improve the overall payability of both the resultant cobalt and nickel product.

Ultimately, this program will support commercial discussions with battery cell manufacturers seeking North American-based solutions for a circular supply chain.