American Manganese (TSXV:AMY) continues to run experiments related to its plans to produce NMC cathode material using its proprietary RecycLiCo process.
In a recent release, the company said that it achieved a 99.98% recovery of high purity nickel-cobalt hydroxide from the NCA cathode scrap material received from a tier-one lithium-ion battery company referenced as Company B.
American Manganese aims to begin engineering design and economic analysis of a 3-5 tonne per day commercial demonstration plant for 2020
Scrap NMC contains lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt and, according to American Manganese, its technology is capable of recycling the minerals and generating products for the battery industry.
“We designed the process with the goal to produce recycled battery products that could be seamlessly integrated into the re-manufacturing of battery cathodes using minimal processing steps,” said Norm Chow, president of Kemetco Research, a contractor hired by AMY to run the tests.
Chow said that after continuous improvement and optimization, the RecycLiCo process achieved an even higher purity than in previous trials ran during stages 3 and 4 of the pilot plant project and which yielded 99.94% purity.