American Manganese needs $12m to build battery metals recycle plant

American Manganese (TSXV: AMY) will need $12 million to go ahead with its first commercial lithium-ion battery cathode recycling plant.

In a press release, the company said that its contractor, Kemetco Research, has developed a conceptual layout for the plant, which would have a three tonne-per-day processing capacity. 

According to Kemetco, a facility with this capacity requires an important capital expense, which will account for the design and construction of specialized equipment.

The idea is that the plant becomes the central space where the companies can implement AMY’s proprietary RecycLiCo process to recover high-purity nickel-cobalt hydroxide from the NCA cathode scrap material, which contains lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt. The recovered elements would be destined for the battery industry.

“American Manganese has expressed interest in commercialization via licensing or joint venture agreements and plans to locate the recycling plant in a strategic location within North America, where it will prepare recycled products suitable for battery manufacturing,” the media brief states.

“During these unprecedented times, the foreign dependency of rare earths and critical metals has turned resource security into national security and the RecycLiCo patented battery recycling technology is an opportunity for governments to advance research and assist in commercialization in order to secure a domestic supply of critical metals.”