American Manganese starts up pilot plant

Larry W. Reaugh, the president and CEO of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada-based American Manganese Inc., says both NCA (nickel-cobalt-aluminum) and NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) cathode scrap has been processed successfully at the company’s pilot plant location in Richmond, British Columbia.

The company says the cathode scrap passed through “Stage 1 and Stage 2 of [the] pilot plant project.” which uses the company’s “patent-approved process.” At the pilot plant, the scrap “underwent separation and leach operations yielding a pregnant leach solution (PLS) containing cathode metals (cobalt, lithium, nickel and manganese) in quantities which meet the company’s high expectations,” the firm states.

American Manganese says more than 500 liters (132 gallons) of PLS has now been collected for further testing and to be “prepared for the remaining three stages of the pilot plant project.”

Comments Reaugh, “The pilot plant testing procedure is done in a manner that helps collect valuable operational data that will help us optimize the pilot plant for testing at a continuous rate once all stages are complete. While the pilot plant testing is expected to be complete by end of May 2019, electric vehicle and battery manufacturers are already conducting due diligence on our process.”

The pilot plant is being housed at a facility operated by Kemetco Research Inc., which describes itself as having a contract sciences operation that can provide laboratory analysis and testing, field work, bench scale studies, pilot plant investigations, consulting services, and applied research and development for both industry and government

American Manganese Inc. says its process is being designed to enable the recovery of metals from lithium-ion batteries, including cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and aluminum. The company says it is focusing on the spent electric vehicle portion of the lithium-ion battery market.