Electra to extend black mass processing trial

In an update on its battery materials recycling trial, Toronto-based Electra Battery Materials Corp. has confirmed improved recoveries of high-value elements, higher metal content in saleable products produced and reduced use of reagents. Combined, the company says the improvements will pave the way for higher-quality customer products and improved economics for continuous battery materials recycling operations, and it plans to continue to process black mass material at its refinery complex.

“Results from our plant-scale black mass trial continue to exceed our expectations,” Electra CEO Trent Mell says. “Recovery rates for nickel, cobalt and manganese continue to improve along with enhancements to our hydrometallurgical process and reductions in reagent consumption.

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“As we accelerate our black mass recycling strategy, our focus has broadened to include upstream battery scrap shredding as well as upgrading our refined products to a battery-grade quality,” he continues. “While we anticipate releasing a summary report of our findings from the demonstration plant we have been operating for the past nine months, we have decided to extend our demonstration plant operations to build on recent success.”

According to Electra, highlights of the black mass recycling trial include:

• processing 40 tons of black mass material to date in a plant-scale setting;
• improvement in recovery rates for all targeted metals since the trial’s start in late December 2022;
• a 50 percent improvement in recovery rates for manganese, in particular, based on results achieved in a lab setting;
• a 5 percent to 10 percent increase in metal content contained in the nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) produced from the recycling process since the start of the trial;
• the shipping of approximately 20 tons of nickel-cobalt MHP product to customers to date; and
• reagent requirements that have been reduced and, in some cases, alternative, less costly reagents have been used for improved overall metal recovery, with some of the reagent additions substituted reducing overall impurity levels within the process

Additionally, the company says the reduction in reagent use and substitution of certain reagents are expected to lower operating expenses and improve the economics of continuous recycling operations. Based on these results, the company has elected to continue processing black mass material at its refinery complex.

“As the only plant-scale operator in North America currently recovering all critical metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries, we are very proud of the achievements made by our people and the performance of our physical plant to date,” Electra Vice President of Project Development Mark Trevisiol says. “Our operations and technical staff have repeatedly demonstrated innovative solutions centered on improving efficiencies of our process while at the same time simplifying the flow sheet. These changes have been quickly applied in the field and generated value in products being produced.

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“In addition to the gains made to metal recoveries and reagent use, other changes, such as improving the washing of saleable residues in our filter press equipment and recycling internal water streams, have improved our overall efficiencies,” he says. “With our decision to continue processing black mass material in our goal to expand processing capacity, we now plan to further enhance our process and target battery-grade quality products.”

Since launching its black mass trial, Electra says it has processed material in a batch mode and successfully extracted products containing lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper and graphite. The trial is being conducted at the company’s refinery complex north of Toronto. Though the cobalt refinery still is under construction, the company says the refurbishment and installation of key equipment at the refinery complex will allow the recycling trial to proceed alongside construction activities.