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  • Artist’s rendering of electrical discharge between materials.

    Fast-charging sodium hybrid battery

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 29, 2024

    Korean researchers present a high-power sodium-ion battery that can be charged in seconds. Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a high-energy and high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery capable of charging within seconds. Interest in developing batteries based on sodium has taken off due to concerns over the sustainability of lithium, as well as safety concerns due to the combustibility of lithium-ion batteries....

  • A graphic showing a rechargeable battery half-filled with graphite.

    NMG makes world-class graphite purchase

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 24, 2024

    Nouveau Monde Graphite to buy 100% interest in the Lac Guéret graphite deposit. In a strategic move that positions Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. to further ramp up its capacity to offer a reliable and environmentally sound supply of graphite for the lithium batteries powering electric vehicles, the Canadian mining and processing company has acquired full ownership of Mason Resources Inc.'s world-class Uatnan graphite project in Quebec. Uatnan is a road-accessible project about 1...

  • ABTC employee inspecting its lithium hydroxide product.

    ABTC's Tonopah Flats gets more DOE funds

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 22, 2024

    Building upon its foundation as a domestic supplier of critical battery materials, American Battery Technology Company has been awarded a second US$57 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for its future commercial-scale lithium hydroxide facility in Nevada. This grant marks yet another major milestone toward establishing a domestic source of low-cost, low-environmental-impact lithium for America's clean energy transition at the Tonopah Flats Lithium project, a Nevada...

  • Pile of dark grey graphite anode powder next to four unlabeled silver batteries.

    Graphite One delivers anode samples

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 1, 2024

    As part of its plan to initially produce synthetic graphite anode material in the U.S., G1 ships samples to future clients for testing. As part of its strategy to quickly establish a domestic mine-to-battery graphite anode material supply chain, Graphite One Inc. has delivered samples of synthetic graphite lithium battery anode material to battery manufacturers and automakers in the United States. "With the U.S. currently not producing any natural and synthetic anode materials...

  • Pile of grey powder for use in the cathodes of iron-based lithium batteries.

    Mitra Chem speeds iron-based US batteries

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 22, 2023

    GM-backed tech, battery materials company ships initial iron-based cathode samples to global EV and battery makers. One month after closing a $60 million Series B round of financing led by General Motors, Mitra Chem has already shipped multiple samples of commercial-grade lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) cathode active material to major global electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers. Led by Vivas Kumar, an engineer who previously served as a senior manager on...

  • Mud pots from geothermal waters bubbling to the surface on the Salton Sea shore.

    Plenty of Salton Sea lithium for US EVs

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 15, 2023

    The Salton Sea geothermal reservoir in Southern California could produce up to 3.4 million metric tons of lithium, which is plenty to make batteries for enough electric vehicles to replace all cars currently on U.S. highways, according to a comprehensive analysis carried out by the U.S. Department of Energy. The analysis, funded by the Geothermal Technologies Office and conducted by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, confirms the region's significant potential to...

  • Visual Capitalist infograph on global cobalt production.

    Cobalt crashes – will it rise again?

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 23, 2023

    From being the priciest and hardest-to-come-by, lithium-ion battery metal during the budding energy transition to a massive surplus and wavering demand, cobalt mining has had a nail-biting year as sales have stalled and prices have begun to fall (global benchmark cobalt prices have dropped by more than half since May of last year). Cobalt is a lustrous ferromagnetic metal with a high melting point used increasingly in renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines and...

  • An aerial shot of Electra’s current facility in northern Ontario.

    Electra's cobalt refinery still on track

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 1, 2023

    Inching closer to the completion of North America's first battery-grade cobalt sulfate refinery, Electra Battery Materials Corp. issued an update for potential stakeholders as it seeks to secure additional funding to complete this much-needed link in a future EV battery supply chain. Starting out the month with an announcement that it would continue its black mass recycling operations following an extremely successful trial that saw roughly 40 metric tons of black mass...

  • An exposed electric vehicle battery pack frame for a future EV.

    Electra almost triples LG cobalt deal

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 25, 2023

    As the only future cobalt sulfate supplier in North America, Electra Battery Materials Corp. has cut a deal to supply LG Energy Solution Ltd. with substantially more battery-grade cobalt than originally anticipated. Piggybacking off an agreement inked in late 2022, Electra will now supply LG Energy Solution with 3,000 metric tons of cobalt contained in a cobalt sulfate product in 2025 and an additional 4,000 metric tons in each of the following years through 2029 for a total...

  • Rendering of NMG’s future Matawinie graphite mine in Quebec.

    A feasible Nouveau Monde Graphite plan

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    It is going to require enormous quantities of graphite for the lithium batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution, and Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. has taken another step toward feeding North American EV supply chains with this critical battery anode material. On July 6, the Canadian battery materials company unveiled the results of a feasibility study that demonstrates strong economics for its plan to build a graphite mine and a coated spherical graphite anode...

  • Aerial view of Jervois’ cobalt mine in the rolling hills of Idaho.

    Idaho mine offers US cobalt, almost

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    Jervois ramps up Idaho cobalt mine; concentrates must be shipped out of U.S. for refining. The ramping up of commercial production at Jervois Global Ltd.'s Idaho Cobalt Operations mine will provide American automakers with a domestic source of a metal critical to the performance of the lithium-ion batteries going into an increasing number of electric vehicles rolling off assembly lines. Foreseeing a sharp rise in the demand for cobalt in the United States and around the globe...

  • Concept ofelectric aircraft with wings like a plane and propellers like a drone.

    Solid-state batteries are taking flight

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    SABERS research team at NASA are developing solid- state batteries for electric aircraft. Knowing that the electrification of air transportation requires batteries that are lighter, store more energy, and are safer than the lithium-ion batteries being used for ground transportation, a team of researchers at NASA are advancing new battery technology that achieves this trifecta. While range anxiety and concerns about the durability and fire hazard are on the minds of those...

  • Aerial view of Electra’s hydrometallurgical cobalt refinery in Quebec, Canada.

    LG inks two Ontario battery metal deals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 14, 2023

    When Ontario unveiled its critical minerals strategy earlier this year, the idea was to leverage the rich mineral endowment in the northern reaches of the province and the established manufacturing in the south to attract investment from some of the biggest names along the electric vehicle supply chain. With LG Energy Solution, one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery companies, inking two deals to source battery-grade cobalt and lithium from the province, it seems that...

  • A metallic cube of sulfur’s symbol on the periodic table of elements.

    More sulfur for better Li-S batteries

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 17, 2023

    Argonne National Lab breakthrough advances lithium-sulfur batteries one step closer to commercial use. Increased energy density at lower costs is the ultimate goal when it comes to making better batteries for smartphones, toys, tools, and electric vehicles. Lithium-sulfur batteries have shown the potential to outperform traditional lithium-ion batteries on both these fronts. This is why scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are working to...

  • A blue Chevrolet Silverado EV being plugged into a home charger.

    GM secures future EV battery metals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 18, 2022

    In another example of global automakers heading to the very front end of global supply chains to source the materials they need to transition to electric mobility, General Motors is making up to a US$69 million strategic investment into Queensland Pacific Metals, an Australian company that is developing a refinery that will produce the nickel and cobalt needed for EV batteries. "The collaboration with Queensland Pacific Metals will provide GM with a secure, cost-competitive...

  • Bottles of high-grade nickel, cobalt products produced from testing at NiWest.

    Stellantis secures future nickel, cobalt

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 11, 2022

    In a move that demonstrates automakers need all the battery materials that can possibly be produced by the global mining sector, Stellantis has entered into a preliminary agreement to buy battery-grade nickel and cobalt from a future mine developed at GME Resources Ltd.'s NiWest project in Western Australia. NiWest is an advanced stage nickel-cobalt project that lies less than 20 miles away of Glencore's Murrin Murrin operation, the largest nickel-cobalt mine and refinery in...