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Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Metals Use and Availability: Nickel

 Brought to my attention in another study.  Am a follower of materials use and supply chain of need and  availability.   Here as it is related to electric vehicles (EVs).

The perfect storm increasing the cost of a crucial metal   By Chris Baraniuk, Technology of Business reporter in the BBC

Nickel is essential for batteries and stainless steel but suppliers are struggling to meet demand.

In the next few years, millions of people will buy electric vehicles (EVs). All those cars and trucks will run on batteries containing metals such as cobalt, lithium and nickel.

But shortages of metals could potentially hobble the EV boom.

"Not a lot of people realise, we simply do not have enough of these critical materials at the moment mined around the world," says Megan O'Connor, chief executive and co-founder of battery materials mining and recycling firm, Nth Cycle.

Her company has designed a means of extracting nickel and other metals from minced-up old batteries - so that these materials can be used again.

It's called electro-extraction and it works by using an electrical current to separate metals out from crushed up battery waste known as "black mass". The separated metals are isolated and trapped in a special filter.

Nth Cycle's technology extracts nickel, not just from pulverised old batteries, but also from the clumps of rock and metals dug out of mines.

It's potentially a more sustainable method of recovering nickel than traditional techniques such as pyrometallurgy, which Dr O'Connor says is not an environmentally-friendly process.  ... '

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