EVs Driving Demand for Lithium-Ion Batteries. This Company Is Working on Recycling Them

Photo by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

From laptops to cell phones to hybrid and electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries power much of the world — and the need for the metal is escalating.

A report released in June by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Director Brian Deese declared lithium “essential” to U.S. economic security and “critical” to U.S. national security. It also predicted that global demand for lithium is expected to grow by 4,000% by 2040. The report also noted that China controls 80% of the global lithium market — 101 of the world’s lithium battery plants are located in China.

“The United States must secure reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals [such as lithium] … to ensure resilience across U.S. manufacturing and defense needs,” the report concluded.

But digging and drilling for lithium in the mountains is a process that can take 15 years to bring to production — far too long to wait for a resource that keeps the world operating and is the key to transitioning away from fossil fuels to clean energy.

And for now, the only U.S. lithium mining operation is Albemarle’s ALB Silver Peak Mine in Clayton Valley, Nevada, where the company extracts the metal from salt brine.  

American Manganese to the Rescue

That’s where American Manganese Inc. AMY AMYZF comes in. The Surrey, British Columbia-based company is focused on lithium-ion battery recycling using its RecycLiCo patented process.

With minimal processing steps and up to 99% extraction of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, the upcycling process creates valuable lithium-ion battery materials for direct integration into the re-manufacturing of new lithium-ion batteries.

Almost all types of electric vehicles (EVs) rely on lithium batteries as a power source. It’s the reason Tesla Inc. TSLA and General Motors Co. GM have invested in lithium battery production as a means to control their company’s supply chains.

Lithium is perfect for EVs because it’s lightweight, holds large amounts of energy and can be recharged repeatedly.

While EVs may be a relatively recent introduction to the market, other sectors have been using lithium-ion batteries for more than a decade. The U.S. military has used them in radios, thermal imagers and other portable devices, and over the next 5 years, the Department of Defense expects to expand its use into military vehicles, ships, aircraft and missiles.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.