Companies partnering to build battery recycling facility in Indiana

Lohum Cleantech Ltd., an India-headquartered producer of sustainable critical minerals, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Fishers, Indiana-based companies ReElement Technologies Corp. and American Metals LLC to establish a fully integrated battery recycling, repurposing and critical material production facility in Indiana.

The companies say the 15.5-gigawatt-hour (GWh) facility will be set up with an initial investment of $30 million and lead to the creation of 250 jobs. The partners say they expect to supply more than 315,000 electric vehicles (EVs) annually initially, with continued growth based on feedstock availability.

The end-to-end battery and critical minerals life cycle management facility will host the entire value chain, from battery cell testing and segregation for second-life energy storage applications to recycling, mineral refining, engineered materials and battery-grade products. The companies say the facility will produce critical materials with purity levels greater than 99.5 percent, which then can be circulated in the U.S. domestic battery ecosystem.

American Metals, a subsidiary of American Resources Corp., specializes in recycling end-of-life battery and magnet material with an off-take partner bringing products back to battery- and magnet-grade as well as recovereing copper, aluminum and ferrous metals. ReElement says it focuses on recycling rare earth permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries, as well as coal-based scrap streams and byproducts, to create a low-cost and environmentally safe circular supply chain.

“We have been working with Lohum to figure out how to leverage our unique capabilities and world-leading technologies at ReElement along with the innovative and scaled-up approach to critical minerals recycling and refining that Lohum has established,” says Mark Jensen, chairman of American Metals and ReElement Technologies. “We are pleased that ReElement and Lohum are partnering in a joint venture to leverage both ReElement’s and Lohum’s vast experience in fully recycling lithium-ion batteries.”

The initial operating location will be at the Marion Advanced Technology Center in Indiana and expand to other locations as determined by the partners. The companies say the joint venture will create a domestic ecosystem of recycled, high-purity lithium for developing North America’s lithium-based battery manufacturing supply chain. The facility will be powered by Lohum’s and ReElement’s capabilities and will be able to eliminate a significant amount of capital expenditure, physical footprint, environmental impact and associated operational expenditures needed for the separation and purification of battery materials.

“As Lohum expands its presence in North America, we welcome this opportunity to partner with ReElement and American Metals, companies that share Lohum’s goals of making battery materials last forever,” Lohum founder and CEO Rajat Verma says. “We believe the joint venture will be instrumental in building resilient critical material supply chains in the U.S. that can sustain themselves through circularity. This is an inspiring development in U.S.-India technology collaboration through market entities.”