A $1.1 billion deal aims to bring critical minerals refining back to the U.S. amid growing tensions with China.
Ohio: The U.S. and Europe have a nickel problem. Nickel is a metal used in batteries, missiles, electronics, and steel. But the U.S. and Europe have had trouble mining and refining it because of government permits and garbage concerns.
Most nickel refining happens in Indonesia and China. Chinese companies control about 75% of the nickel refining in Indonesia. This gives China control over more than half of the world’s nickel supply.
Nth Cycle is a startup that makes a small electric system to refine nickel and other metals like cobalt and copper. The company started with a small plant in Ohio that processes 3,100 metric tons of scrap metal. Now it has a $1.1 billion deal with Trafigura to make four times more.
Today batteries that wear out are shipped to other countries for recycling. “These are valuable materials that we mostly send to China,” says Megan O’Connor, boss of Nth Cycle. “Then we have to buy them back.”
Nth Cycle’s system is much smaller than regular factories. It costs less money to build and can make profit with only 6,000 metric tons per year. The company is building new plants in South Carolina and the Netherlands that can process 18,000 metric tons of scrap combined.
“That’s how you get refining capacity here in the U.S. – you match the volumes,” O’Connor said. The company can add more parts as more battery waste becomes available.