American Manganese uses its recycling tech to produce cathode material suitable for today's EV batteries

American Manganese Inc (CVE:AMY) (OTCMKTS:AMYZF) (FRA:2AM) has announced another boost for its ground-breaking battery technology, saying it has the potential to 'upcycle older style cathode materials into ones, which can be used in modern electric vehicle (EV) batteries. With partner Kemetco Research, the company said it had successfully produced, so-called, NMC-532 cathode precursor from recycled NMC (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide) cathode waste. NMC-532 represents the ratios: 50% nickel, 30% manganese, and 20% cobalt, which is that used in today's lithium-ion batteries. READ: American Manganese applauds new White House report on building resilient battery supply chains in the US "Modern lithium-ion battery cathode chemistries have rapidly evolved to having less cobalt and more nickel or manganese materials, which does not reflect the cathode chemistries of older batteries approaching their end-of-life," Larry Reaugh, CEO of American Manganese told investors in a statement. "Adjusting the ratio of the leached metals enhances the RecycLiCo process giving us flexibility to directly ‘upcycle' older cathode chemistries, such as NMC-111, into modern electric vehicle cathode chemistries, such as NMC-532," he added. American Manganese is focused on recycling lithium-ion batteries from EVs and then selling repurposed materials back to electric vehicle firms, in a closed-loop process. The company believes its technology offers a "more practical, cost-effective, and efficient" solution for achieving a circular economy, compared to competing recycling technologies that undergo multiple steps to produce lower-value intermediate products that need more refining before production into cathode precursor material. Quoting from the US government's recent '100-Day Battery Supply Chain Review', the company said: "Without a footprint in the earlier stages of manufacturing (including materials processing, as well as electrode, cell, and pack manufacturing), intermediate recycled products will be exported to markets/countries that have these capabilities." "Without processing capacity, the United States exports the limited raw materials produced today to foreign market," it added. American Manganese said the White House supply chain report has suggested policy initiatives which could encourage the vertical integration of RecycLiCo alongside Gigafactories (giant battery production centres). Production waste accounts for at least 10% of a Gigafactory's production capacity - a ready source of recycling feedstock for the American Manganese process, the company noted. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com