In 2023, the company successfully operated a battery materials recycling demonstration plant in a batch process at its refinery complex in Ontario, processing more than 40 tonnes of end-of-life battery scrap, known as “black mass,” and producing high-quality nickel, cobalt and lithium products.
Electra’s demonstration program is believed to be the first plant-scale recycling of black mass material in North America as well as the first domestic production of nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate product.
The company said it is accelerating the next phase of its recycling project to demonstrate on a continuous basis that the hydrometallurgical black mass process is scalable, profitable, and can be implemented at other locations.
The Canadian government, through National Resources Canada’s Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program, has committed funding of C$5 million ($3.6m) for the project, which…
