American Manganese Granted U.S. Patent for Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Material Recycling Technology
United States Patent and Trademark Office Issues Patent No. 10,246,343
SURREY, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / American Manganese Inc. (AMY) is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office has issued patent No. 10,246,343 for the Company's lithium-ion battery cathode material recycling technology. The granting of the patent is a significant milestone as it now provides legal protection of the Company's flagship technology.
Mr. Norm Chow, inventor of AMY's technology states, "the granting of the U.S. Patent confirms that our research is both novel and inventive. It is extremely exciting to have the opportunity to potentially contribute to the sustainability of future global electrification, which I believe will be valuable to the long-term health of our planet."
"When developing this technology, we looked at current methods of recycling waste lithium-ion batteries and discovered high heat smelting to be the primary method," Mr. Chow continued. "Because active cathode materials are oxides, the first thing that came to mind was the comparison to steelmaking. Since smelting iron ore in steelmaking generates a considerable amount of CO2, we were compelled to develop an alternative process with a sustainable focus. During research development, we applied Near Net Shape manufacturing principles with the goal of efficiently recycling cathode material and generating products as close to the final form as possible, with minimum processing steps."
Instead of relying on acquiring and developing mines in high risk jurisdictions to supply the growing demand for battery materials, AMY aims to have its patented urban mining technology provide a sustainable and geopolitically friendly supply of battery materials.
Conventional Mining
American Manganese Patented Technology
Environmental permitting
Mining various ores from geopolitically uncertain parts of the world
Tailings management and disposal
Smelting and refining (such as with solvent extraction and electrowinning)
Re-dissolution of the metals with acid
Crystallization to make metal sulfates
Extraction of all cathode metals from lithium-ion batteries
Precipitation of base metal oxides and lithium carbonate
Ready for battery manufacturers to utilize base metal oxides and lithium carbonate with a stoichiometric make-up of metals as required for manufacturing of new lithium-ion battery cathodes
No geopolitical risk
The granting of the Company's patent comes at a time of surging demand for lithium-ion batteries as part of the trend towards ‘the electrification of everything'. According to the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence battery mega-factory tracker, there is a forecasted 400% increase in lithium-ion battery production capacity to 1 TWh by 2028 in order to meet the electric vehicle demand outlook. For instance, by 2040, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that 55% of all new car sales and 33% of the global fleet will be electric by 2040. Legacy automakers, like Volkswagen, have recognized the social, environmental, and economic value in an efficient and eco-friendly recycling processes for their growing electric mobility fleet, with an aim to return raw materials back to the production process chain.
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