Iondrive Limited (ASX: ION) has successfully completed its large-scale bench trials including independent verification of the metal recoveries by Independent Metallurgical Operations (IMO) in Perth.
These results confirm the robustness and economic potential of Iondrive’s deep-eutectic solvent (DES) battery recycling technology.
“The independent verification of our large-scale bench trials at a 1,000x scale-up to the earlier University research is a significant milestone for Iondrive,” Iondrive’s CEO, Dr Ebbe Dommisse, said.
“It confirms that our DES battery recycling process scales effectively and maintains high metal recovery rates with minimal solvent losses. Our aim is to process black mass where it is needed, particularly in key markets like Europe, US and Australia.
“This approach aligns with the growing demand for recycled battery materials and ensures that the economic value of these critical minerals remains within these regions, rather than being lost through exporting to Asia.
“Furthermore, we convert these recovered minerals to battery-grade materials, directly supplying EV battery manufacturers. We are proud to have delivered these results as promised and are excited to continue our work towards optimising the process and advancing our pilot plant studies.”
Iondrive utilises Deep Eutectic Solvents and benign, biodegradable organic solvents in a non- toxic, closed-loop process. This eco-friendly method avoids toxic mineral acid leaching, ensuring a minimal environmental footprint.
Currently, most battery recycling processes involve pre-treating and shredding waste batteries to create a substance known as black mass. Black mass is a powdered mixture of the shredded anodes and cathodes containing various critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. This material is then typically exported to Asia for further processing to extract these critical minerals and then refining to battery-grade materials for reuse.
The prevailing methods for processing black mass are energy-intensive pyrometallurgical processes, which involve high-temperature smelting, and hydrometallurgical processes, which use acid leaching. These methods are predominantly used in Asia, where most of the world's battery recycling capacity is currently located.
Large-scale Trial Results
The successful completion and independent verification of large-scale bench trials mark a pivotal achievement in the development of Iondrive’s DES technology.
The large-scale bench trials, conducted at the University of Adelaide, involved a 1,000x scale- up at 120g of black mass from initial small-scale trials at 120mg. These trials investigated the DES process in larger volumes to verify the scalability of the chemistry and establish an accurate mass balance to quantify solvent losses. The trials showed that Iondrive's DES Battery Recycling Technology achieves very high recovery of critical minerals from Li-ion batteries. Moreover, the detailed mass balance showed that the process incurs minimal solvent losses, which is crucial for the economic viability of the process, as solvent costs are one of the key cost drivers.
The IMO trials independently confirmed the results of the initial large-scale trials performed at the University, indicating that the process chemistry scales effectively, maintaining high recovery rates for critical minerals such as manganese, cobalt, and nickel.
