American Resources Corporation has announced that, in conjunction with its sponsored research partnership with Purdue University, it successfully achieved a high purity of lithium, nickel, and cobalt from recycled batteries sourced from the manufacturing process of electric vehicles.
The company said it utilized its displacement chromatography technology to achieve the results -- more than 99.5% purity.
"Earlier this year we showcased our ability to produce a very high purity of the rare earth metal neodymium from recycled rare earth magnets and now with these results, we have showcased how we can effectively and economically isolate lithium, nickel and cobalt to be recycled for new battery production,” said American Resources CEO Mark Jensen in a statement.
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“Our technology is unique in that it utilizes a cost-effective solution for the final stage of recycling battery metals all the way to the end isolated metals. The solution is built through multiple stages in a closed loop system to recover the elements and any other high value metals. The costs are incurred to isolate the high value metal first then subsequently recover the lower value metals with minimal additional operating costs throughout the system," Jensen added.
With growing attention on the fragile supplies of the battery metals cobalt and lithium, the company said it is primarily focused on the isolation and purification of both from recycled batteries and/or black mass-produced by third parties, and will also isolate and purify nickel and manganese in the same process.
Over 60% of the world's cobalt is produced out of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has been a leading producer of cobalt for several years. There are an estimated 7 million metric tons of cobalt reserves in the world with over half based in the DRC. The current market price for cobalt per metric ton is over $50,000.
Lithium, given its historic price, has typically not been recovered in the recycling process of lithium-ion batteries. However, with the projected growth of EV manufacturing and larger-scale battery storage, the demand for lithium is expected to double over the next three years and increase tenfold over the next decade.
American Resources said that chromatography is unique in that it is an efficient continuous closed-loop, column-based system that is able to operate at multiple stages and recover high-value components, then subsequently isolate and recover the supplemental products with minimal increase in costs. The current market price for lithium carbonate per metric ton is approximately $25,000.
"What is unique about our rare earth and critical element division is that we focus on recycling end-of-life products,” Jensen said. “As the demand and utilization of electric vehicles and windmills, etc. continue to increase, so does our "mine life" or access to feedstocks. Essentially our reserve base increases year over year as the market continues to grow. It is our belief that bringing practical, real-life solutions to the table will bolster a more resilient domestic supply chain for these increasingly, critical raw materials and help secure our energy independence. Chromatography and our technology team is a game changer!"
Under its recently expanded sponsored research program with Purdue University, the company said it is refining and further advancing its critical and rare earth element purification technology for various feedstocks, which include recycled waste permanent magnets, waste lithium-ion batteries, and coal waste, fly ash, and byproducts using displacement separation and ligand assisted displacement chromatography.
Additionally, the company has previously announced site selection for its first rare earth and critical element recycling facility in Noblesville, Indiana, which is being developed as a scalable commercial facility.
American Resources said it continues to focus on running efficient streamlined operations in being a new-aged supplier of raw materials to the infrastructure and electrification marketplace in the most sustainable of ways, while also helping the world achieve its goals of carbon neutrality.
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