In a historic breakthrough, Nth Cycle, a globally recognized critical metal refining company, has become the first company in the United States to produce premium nickel cobalt MHP (metal hydroxide precipitate). This groundbreaking achievement marks a significant turning point in the country’s quest for secure and sustainable access to critical metals, essential for a range of industries including clean energy, consumer goods, and defense.
Nth Cycle’s revolutionary Oyster system, installed and operationalized at a 20,000 square foot facility in Ohio, processes black-mass and other nickel scrap, ending the United States’ decades-long dependence on China for critical metal refining. The Oyster system boasts a unique modular design that enables it to be co-located with recyclers, manufacturers, and miners, eliminating the costly and time-consuming process of building stand-alone refining plants. This strategic approach significantly reduces transportation, time-to-market, cost, emissions, and waste, making it a highly efficient and environmentally friendly solution.
Nth Cycle’s proprietary electro-extraction technology, the core of the Oyster system, leverages electricity instead of fossil fuels to convert recyclable industrial waste and mined ore into a full spectrum of critical metals. This innovative approach replaces traditional pyrometallurgy, a process known for its high energy consumption and environmental impact, with one of the cleanest technologies in the world, accelerating the transition towards net-zero targets across public and private sectors.
“In less than 12 months, we’ve installed and operationalized our state-of-the-art Oyster system, creating the first commercial domestic source of high-quality nickel and cobalt MHP from scrap,” said Megan O’Connor, co-founder and CEO of Nth Cycle. “This system not only helps to end decades of U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains but also sets a new standard for modular, sustainable, high-purity critical metals production.”
The Oyster system delivers substantial environmental benefits, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 90% compared to traditional mining methods. This aligns perfectly with the Inflation Reduction Act’s stringent domestic sourcing requirements for electric vehicles, paving the way for a cleaner and more sustainable future.
The single Oyster unit installed in Ohio can process up to 3,100 tonnes of scrap materials annually, yielding up to 900 tonnes of MHP (equivalent to over 22 million cell phone batteries). This remarkable capacity allows Nth Cycle’s partners – including recyclers, OEMs, and Fortune 500 automotive, consumer, and electronics giants – to validate the system’s effectiveness before considering co-location.
Located in Fairfield, Ohio, a designated Disadvantaged Community per the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, the facility will generate new jobs and provide critical opportunities in the burgeoning clean energy market.
The significance of this breakthrough extends beyond the economic and environmental benefits. Critical metals are indispensable for the United States’ future, powering everything from electric vehicles to the electric grid, computers to phones, aviation, defense, and public transit. However, despite having abundant resources, the country lacked the refining capabilities to separate and extract these metals for end-use. This dependence on China, which handles 85% of the country’s critical metal refining, has created a national crisis, threatening the nation’s economic and national security.
The Department of Energy has identified refining as the most pressing gap in the lithium-ion battery supply chain, leading to the passage and introduction of legislation to address this crucial issue. Nth Cycle’s solution aligns perfectly with the Inflation Reduction Act, securing a $7.2 million 48C tax credit for the Ohio facility under its Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit program. This groundbreaking initiative is also aligned with the goals of related bipartisan initiatives aimed at strengthening domestic critical metal supply chains.
Nth Cycle, the industry leader in metal refining, is at the forefront of revolutionizing the country’s domestic supply chain and clean-energy economy. Their patented electro-extraction technology, housed in the Oyster system, can be seamlessly integrated with recyclers, manufacturers, and miners to recover the full spectrum of critical metals from end-of-life batteries, scrap metal, and ore.
The company’s modular solution supports multiple industries and represents a significant sustainability advancement, propelling the United States towards a cleaner and more secure future. Nth Cycle is headquartered in Burlington, MA, and with its Commercial Production Site in Ohio, they stand as the first company in the United States to produce Nickel Cobalt MHP at commercial scale.
