Electra claims it will process up to 75 tonnes of black mass material in batches mode using its proprietary hydrometallurgical process in the demonstration plant.

Graphex Technologies has a self-contained graphite processing ecosystem in China and has bought a plant to process the metal in Michigan.

Relentless rise of lithium prices and recent bounce in cobalt and nickel put pressure on electric vehicle manufacturers.

International Graphite’s Collie operation is part of push for new production facilities to meet escalating demand for raw materials to support decarbonisation of transport and energy storage.

It comes as Australia seeks to develop its critical minerals processing industry.

Carmakers “are waking up” to often overlooked anode material accounting for nearly half the mass of battery cells by inking upstream deals.