Tag Archives: Technology

#US firm Bridge Green opens #CriticalMineral recovery plant in #Chennai #TamilNadu, #India

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An illustrated map of Tamil Nadu highlighting the concept of a circular economy, featuring icons for renewable energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels, as well as various minerals essential for battery production. Key terms include sustain, recover, reuse, and repower, surrounded by recycling symbols.

Bridge Green Launches Critical Mineral Recovery Plant in Chennai to Advance Battery Circularity

In a significant step toward building a circular battery economy, US-based startup Bridge Green Upcycle has inaugurated a state-of-the-art critical mineral recovery facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Strengthening India’s Battery Recycling Ecosystem

Located in Gummidipoondi near Chennai, the newly commissioned plant is designed to process end-of-life lithium-ion batteries as well as battery manufacturing scrap. With an annual processing capacity of 7,200 tonnes, the facility represents one of the most advanced battery recycling operations in the region.

The plant will recover a range of critical minerals, including:

  • Lithium
  • Cobalt
  • Nickel
  • Manganese
  • Copper
  • Graphite

These materials play a vital role in battery manufacturing and are essential for supporting the growing electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage industries.

Recognition Under Government Incentive Scheme

The facility has been selected under the Government of India’s Critical Mineral Recycling Incentive Scheme, highlighting its strategic importance in strengthening domestic supply chains for critical raw materials. Notably, it is the only facility in Tamil Nadu included in the first cohort of projects approved under the initiative.

Major Investment Plans Ahead

Bridge Green’s Founder and CEO announced that the company plans to invest between ₹500 crore and ₹1,000 crore over the next five years. The current plant is expected to ramp up operations and reach full processing capacity by the end of this year.

This investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to developing a sustainable and localized critical minerals ecosystem in India.

Expanding into Refined Battery Materials

Beyond mineral recovery, Bridge Green has outlined ambitious expansion plans. The next phase of development will focus on producing refined battery-grade materials, including:

  • Lithium carbonate
  • Nickel sulfate
  • Manganese sulfate
  • Cobalt sulfate

The company is targeting commissioning of these facilities by the end of 2028. Additionally, plans are underway to establish a second-life battery plant, further extending the lifecycle of battery assets and reducing waste.

Supporting the Circular Economy

As demand for batteries continues to grow worldwide, recycling and material recovery will play an increasingly important role in reducing dependence on virgin mining and improving resource security. Facilities such as Bridge Green’s Chennai plant demonstrate how innovative recycling technologies can help create a more sustainable, resilient, and circular battery value chain.

The launch marks an important milestone not only for Bridge Green but also for India’s emerging critical minerals and battery recycling sector, positioning the country as a key player in the global energy transition.

A key differentiator for Bridge Green is its proprietary technology platform focused on both battery life extension and critical mineral extraction. By combining advanced recycling processes with second-life battery solutions, the company aims to maximize resource utilization while reducing environmental impact.

The company’s strategy extends beyond recycling alone. Bridge Green plans to serve both domestic and international markets, supplying recovered minerals and battery materials to industries including battery manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, defence, and aerospace.

In addition to mineral recovery, the company intends to provide second-life battery systems for data centres and industrial users. These systems can repurpose batteries that are no longer suitable for electric vehicles but still retain sufficient capacity for stationary energy storage applications, further supporting circular economy objectives.

Capitalizing on Growing Demand

According to Founder and CEO demand for battery-grade materials already exists in India and is expected to grow significantly as the country’s cell manufacturing ecosystem matures. As domestic battery production expands under various government initiatives, the need for locally sourced critical minerals and refined battery salts will become increasingly important.

Bridge Green is also positioning itself to tap into international opportunities. Potential export markets include the United States, Southeast Asia, and Europe—regions that are rapidly strengthening their battery supply chains and seeking reliable sources of critical minerals.

The recently established US–India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Framework presents an additional opportunity for the company. As a US–India enterprise, Bridge Green is uniquely positioned to support cross-border collaboration in securing sustainable supplies of critical materials required for the global energy transition.

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Podcast Episode: The #Pentagon Wants 300,000 #Drones But #China Controls The Magnets

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Pip: Welcome to a show about the rocks that run the world — or at least the ones that run the drones, the defense contracts, and the supply chains holding everything together.

Mara: Today we're looking at work from Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng, and it lands squarely in rare earth territory — specifically who controls the magnets inside American military drones, and what one company is doing about it.

Pip: Let's start with the Pentagon's drone ambitions and the supply chain problem underneath them.

The Pentagon's Drone Ambitions vs. China's Magnet Grip

Mara: The setup here is stark: the United States military wants a lot of drones, fast, and almost every one of them depends on a component it doesn't control.

Pip: The post puts the numbers plainly: "The Pentagon recently placed the largest drone order in American history — 30,000 one-way attack drones, with plans to scale past 300,000 by early 2028."

Mara: And the constraint hiding inside that ambition is the rare earth magnet. According to Goldman Sachs figures cited in the post, roughly 98 percent of the world's magnets are manufactured in China. So the upshot is: you can order all the drones you want, but if the magnets aren't there, the drones aren't either.

Pip: Three hundred thousand drones is a serious procurement target. The magnet math is the part that doesn't scale with good intentions.

Mara: That's where REalloys enters the picture. The post describes the company as holding the only fully non-Chinese mine-to-magnet heavy rare earth supply chain in North America — covering processed metals, finished alloys, and the magnet-ready inputs that defense contractors actually need.

Pip: So the chain runs from the ground to the finished input, entirely outside China. That's the gap REalloys is positioned to fill, and it's a gap the Pentagon's own order just made very visible.

Mara: The original reporting is sourced to The Globe and Mail, and the post frames REalloys not as a speculative play but as a company that has spent years building toward exactly this moment in defense procurement.

Pip: The timing is either very good planning or very good luck — probably some of both.

Mara: Rare earth supply chains don't move fast, but defense procurement deadlines do. That tension is what makes this story worth watching.

Pip: The magnets are small. The stakes are not. More next time.

INOV8RS CLUB Podcast Episode-7: #China’s breakthrough in solid-state battery technology – double the energy density

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Pip: Welcome to the feed where ore meets amp-hours — A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info, and today we are talking batteries.

Mara: Specifically, a major development in solid-state battery technology out of China — the energy density numbers, the fast-charging claims, and what the underlying chemistry actually involves. All of it reported by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng. Let’s start with the breakthrough itself.

China’s Solid-State Battery Leap

Mara: The setup here is a familiar tension in battery research: solid-state designs promise better performance and safety than conventional liquid-electrolyte batteries, but making them practical at scale has been the hard part. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are claiming a significant step forward.

Pip: The headline number comes straight from the study. The post quotes the team reporting “stable cycling” for 700 cycles with an 81.9 percent capacity retention — and that’s on top of an energy density of 451.5 watt-hours per kilogram, more than double what commercial lithium iron phosphate EV cells currently achieve.

Mara: What that means in practice: a battery that holds roughly twice the charge in the same weight, charges in three minutes, and still performs reliably after hundreds of cycles. For EV range, that combination would be a genuine step change.

Pip: The chemistry doing that work is a compatibilizing-solvent plasticization strategy — which sounds like something a materials scientist invented to win an argument at a conference.

Mara: It is dense, but the mechanism matters. Conventional plasticizers used in PVDF polymer electrolytes suffer from poor electrochemical stability. The new approach uses acetone as a temporary solvent to improve compatibility, then lets it evaporate during film formation, locking the plasticizers into the polymer network and creating a lithium-fluoride-rich interfacial layer that stabilizes everything.

Pip: So the upshot is: they solved a known instability problem in the electrolyte, and that’s what makes the high-density, fast-charge performance possible without the system degrading quickly.

Mara: The post is careful to note the challenges that remain. Dendrites — high-current metallic cracks that cause short circuits — are still a real concern for dense solid-state designs. The piece also flags that China’s new all-iron battery may offer a lower-cost alternative to lithium options entirely, and that nuclear batteries represent a longer-horizon possibility worth watching.

Pip: From doubling energy density to rethinking the chemistry from the ground up — the pace of movement here is hard to ignore.

Mara: The gap between lab result and production line is still wide, but the direction is clear.

Pip: Next time, we’ll see what else is moving fast — in the ground and out of it.

#China’s breakthrough in solid-state battery technology – double the energy density on a 3-minute charge

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A laboratory setup featuring a cross-section view of a battery cell with labeled components including lithium metal, solid electrolyte argyrodite separator, aluminum foil, copper foil, and NMC cathode. In the background, a researcher is working at a microscope with various scientific instruments and notes visible on the table.

Researchers are continually attempting to advance the technology behind solid-state batteries, and China seems to be leading the charge. Following a breakthrough that packs more energy into the same size battery, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have developed a powerful new solid-state battery that provides impressive energy density, can be charged ultra-fast, and overcomes common concerns with this battery type. As its name suggests, solid-state batteries leverage solid electrolytes, or materials, to conduct ions between electrodes, versus the liquid or gel polymer materials used in conventional batteries, potentially offering improved performance and safety.

The team reports a solid-state lithium-metal battery with a density of 451.5 watt-hours per kilogram, which is more than double what commercial lithium iron phosphate EV battery cells can achieve. Moreover, it maintained “stable cycling” for 700 cycles with an 81.9 percent capacity retention. In other words, it’s powerful enough to hold a significant charge, can be replenished ultra-fast in three-minute sessions, and maintains its power capacity over many cycles. According to the researchers, they achieved this with a “compatibilizing-solvent plasticization” strategy that introduces a solvent to improve compatibility between the polymer and stable plasticizers.

The researchers basically stabilized and strengthened the electrolytes

The study suggests that “conventional plasticizers” used in PVDF electrolytes — a type of polymer used in advanced batteries — has poor electrochemical instability. Using the “compatibilizing-solvent plasticization” strategy the researchers essentially create a film — a lithium-fluoride-rich interfacial layer — that keeps the plasticizers locked into the polymer network. They use a temporary volatile solvent, acetone, to boost compatibility, which evaporates during the film’s formation. This discovery could lead to more practical designs of lithium-metal batteries that exhibit the high energy density, for more power storage, and fast-charging support demonstrated in the study. That would have huge implications for EV technologies, vastly improving their overall range.

Although research has advanced in recent years — solid-state battery power banks are already here — they still pose quite a few challenges. Dense solid-state batteries are plagued by high-current metallic cracks called dendrites, which cause short circuiting or worse. So while there’s still advancements to be made with solid-state batteries, it’s easy to see that battery technology research is moving at a good pace. China’s new all-iron battery might beat lithium options at a fraction of the cost, while nuclear batteries could change everything we know about portable power, if they come to pass.

#China’s #RareEarth Policy: Driving Innovation and Competitiveness

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A colorful assortment of various geometric and crystalline shapes representing critical minerals, displayed against a blurred laboratory background. The image also features the flag of China and text in Chinese and English labeling the minerals.

Policy Framework Supporting Innovation Ecosystem

The Chinese State Council’s “Rare Earth Industry Development Plan (2021-2025)” establishes coordinated targets that explicitly connect mining output with downstream technology milestones. This policy framework differs from market-driven approaches where private investment decisions occur independently of government industrial planning.

Key coordination mechanisms include:

  • Research funding allocation aligned with five-year industrial development priorities
  • State-owned enterprise operations integrated with private sector innovation incentives
  • Regulatory environments designed to support domestic technology development clusters
  • University-industry partnerships with explicit commercialization mandates

Government research institutes, including Chinese Academy of Sciences divisions focused on materials science, receive dedicated funding for rare earth materials research aligned with broader industrial objectives. This creates predictable resource flows for long-term research projects while ensuring alignment between fundamental research and commercial applications.

The integration extends to environmental and regulatory considerations. Chinese facilities operate under different environmental compliance requirements compared to Western competitors, enabling cost structures that support both current operations and reinvestment in technology development. Additionally, these operations increasingly benefit from decarbonization benefits that enhance long-term competitiveness. This regulatory environment, combined with established supply chains and vertical integration advantages, creates compound benefits for innovation funding.

How Does China’s Patent Strategy Create Competitive Moats in Critical Technologies?

Intellectual Property Accumulation in Emerging Materials

China’s patent filing activity in rare earth materials significantly exceeds Western competitors, with China accounting for approximately 40-50% of global rare earth materials patents and higher percentages in emerging technology areas including nanomaterials and energy storage applications, according to World Intellectual Property Organization data from 2023.

Patent applications in rare earth nanomaterials and energy storage categories have grown at approximately 15-20% year-over-year in China between 2018-2023, while Western filing rates in equivalent categories have remained relatively flat or declined. This divergence reflects different strategic approaches to materials innovation and intellectual property development.

Focus areas for Chinese patent activity include:

  • Energy storage nanomaterials with enhanced conductivity and thermal stability
  • Magnetic separation processes optimizing cost structures and efficiency
  • Luminescent compounds for specialized optical and sensor applications
  • Advanced alloy compositions targeting aerospace and electronics sectors

Consequently, organizations must develop comprehensive IP protection strategies to safeguard their technological advantages in this competitive landscape.

Research Institution Networks and Knowledge Transfer

Chinese university-industry collaboration operates under different structural incentives compared to Western academic systems. Chinese institutions receive explicit mandates to commercialize research findings, supported by government incentive structures that reward technology transfer activities. This contrasts with Western university systems where commercialization typically occurs post-publication through licensing offices, creating longer development timelines.

Read more at: https://discoveryalert.com.au/strategic-technology-development-critical-material-sectors-2026/

Impact of #US Tariffs on #Canadian #Nickel Industry

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Tariffs will disrupt the long-standing flow of nickel between Canada and the US

Canada is the single largest supplier of nickel metal to the US market, typically delivering between 35–40% of the United States’ annual primary nickel requirements over the past decade according to trade statistics and CRU’s Nickel Service. However, US President-Elect Donald Trump has announced potential 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, threatening to disrupt the flow of nickel across the border.

This will not only have a negative impact on the Canadian nickel industry, which is already struggling with high costs amid a global market in chronic surplus, but also on the US industry that needs a stable and secure source of high-purity nickel in a world that is increasingly dominated by China.

US market has no domestic nickel industry and is fully reliant on imports

In the US, nickel is largely used to make stainless steel followed by uses in foundry, alloying and plating applications – very little nickel is used domestically in battery applications. When it comes to stainless steel, the US has a mature scrap collection and distribution network meeting more than 80% of stainless-steel nickel requirement. The remainder needs to be secured by purchasing ferronickel or high-purity nickel. For all other applications, high-purity nickel is required.

The US has one operating nickel mine located in Michigan, owned by Lundin. This mine produces a concentrate that is exported, given the US has no domestic nickel smelters or refineries with the capability to process nickel-bearing concentrates. However, this mine is anticipated to exhaust its production by the end of 2025, leaving the US with no domestic nickel industry. As a result, the US will be completely reliant on imports to meet its primary nickel requirements.

Depending on the permanence of tariffs, US domestic nickel refining may become an attractive proposition and there is at least one company with plans to build a carbonyl nickel refinery producing high-purity nickel. However, the challenge this plant will have is sourcing intermediate feed.

Tariffs will push Canadian nickel to other markets

Although Canada is home to several large nickel producers, only one has the right surface assets and ore sources to be able to supply the US market from Canada. Vale produces high-purity nickel from its Sudbury and Long Harbor operations. However, its Canadian assets sit in the third and fourth quartile of CRU’s Net Cash Cost Excl. Royalties Industry Costs Curve.



Despite being positioned near the top of the cost curve, Vale’s operations appear to be able to turn a profit at YTD prices. However, when simulating for the impact of tariffs, Vale’s operations come under tremendous pressure.



Read more at: https://www.crugroup.com/en/communities/thought-leadership/2024/impact-of-us-tariffs-on-canadian-nickel-industry/

#DOE Announces $2.26 Billion Loan to #Lithium Americas Corp.

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As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), today announced the closing of a $2.26 billion loan to Lithium Americas Corp’s subsidiary, Lithium Nevada Corp. (including $1.97 billion of principal and $289.7 million of capitalized interest), to help finance the construction of facilities for processing lithium at Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada.

The project is located next to a mine site that contains the largest confirmed lithium resource in North America. Once fully operational, the facilities are expected to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate—supporting good-paying, high-quality jobs while helping ensure the United States can meet anticipated skyrocketing demand for the critical minerals necessary for the clean energy future. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to building America’s clean transportation future, boosting America’s global manufacturing competitiveness, and securing reliable domestic critical minerals supply chains.  

Read more at: https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/doe-announces-226-billion-loan-lithium-americas-corp

#China to regulate #Lithium-ion battery industry amid fast expansion

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China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Wednesday issued new guidelines for its lithium-ion battery industry, aiming to transform, upgrade and promote high-quality development amid rapid expansion in the sector.

The guidelines, following a proposal in May, will help firms scale back manufacturing projects that only expand production capacity, while enhancing technology innovation and product quality and trimming output costs, the ministry said.

Projects built on farmland and ecological zones would be required to be shut down, or strictly reined in and gradually removed.

Rapid expansion of production capacity along the lithium battery supply chain has led to a plunge in prices for products, including battery and raw materials, eroding companies’ profits in the world’s biggest market.

Industry planning and launch of new projects should be in line with national development of resources, ecological protection and energy saving management, the ministry said.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-regulate-lithium-ion-battery-industry-amid-fast-expansion-2024-06-19/

#Scientists find new way to enhance durability of #Lithium batteries.

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Safe and efficient energy storage is important for American prosperity and security. With the adoption of both renewable energy sources and electric vehicles on the rise around the world, it is no surprise that research into a new generation of batteries is a major focus. Researchers have been developing batteries with higher energy storage density and, thus, longer driving range. Other goals include shorter charging times, greater tolerance to low temperatures and safer operation.

One of the more promising such batteries has a lithium-containing cathode supplemented with nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC). At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, a team of scientists has recently developed a new coating method for NMC cathodes with high nickel content, which boosts the energy density substantially. The cathode is the positively charged battery component that supplies lithium ions that shuffle between it and the battery’s negatively charged electrode, called the anode, during cycling.

The repeated charging of batteries under conditions of high voltage and rapid recharge leads to structural instability and breakdown over time. To overcome the problem, Argonne scientists developed a new coating that allows the cathode particles to withstand the fracturing in their crystalline structure that had previously occurred upon cycling. They call this material ​“epitaxial entropy-assisted coating,” or EEC for short. According to Xu, ​“entropy assistance” ensures that the coating helps to prevent the breakdown of the material beneath it due to a thermodynamic effect, which leads materials to naturally become destabilized over time.

Read more at: https://www.anl.gov/article/scientists-find-new-way-to-enhance-durability-of-lithium-batteries

#India reaches out to critical mineral producers for processing technology

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NEW DELHI: India has reached out to key critical mineral producers to bring in processing technology into the country, officials said. The move comes close on the back of the government rolling out auctions of critical mineral mines.

“Talks are on with the United States (US), Australia, and United Kingdom (UK), South Korea, and Japan for processing technology. Brazil and Argentina are also positive about collaborating with India,” a senior mines ministry official told ET.
According to another official aware of the plan, agreements with countries are being lined up and will soon be signed.

While India is going ahead with auction of mines holding critical minerals, there are no facilities for their beneficiation.

“We want to target India’s first critical mineral beneficiation and processing plant in the next 3-5 years,” the official quoted above said. “We want to ensure that development of critical mineral processing and extraction happen in parallel.”

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/metals-mining/india-reaches-out-to-critical-mineral-producers-for-processing-technology/articleshow/108924719.cms?from=mdr

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