Pre-processing partnership
Aki Battery Materials – The link to closing the loop
Aki Battery Recycling is a joint-venture with Three Fires Group (TFG), a First Nations-owned investment group, focused on the recycling of battery waste in Ontario. Aki Battery Recycling will source and process lithium-ion battery waste from manufacturers to produce black mass at a state-of-the-art facility to be established in southern Ontario. The black mass will then be further treated using Electra’s proprietary process at its Ontario hydrometallurgical refinery to recover critical minerals, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and graphite that can be reintroduced into the battery supply chain, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the EV supply chain and decrease reliance on foreign countries for critical minerals.
The Three Fires Group will lead the capital resourcing of the joint venture, as well as sourcing and determining the location for the future facility. Electra will provide technical and commercial leadership to the project.
As the demand for electric vehicles, energy storage systems and other advanced battery cells continues to surge, so does the need for innovative solutions to manage and repurpose battery waste. Localized production of black mass by Canada’s First Nations ensures participation in the energy transition by the very communities that will have battery manufacturing on their traditional territories.