The Department of Energy just picked Nth Cycle to negotiate for up to $100 million to build a black mass refinery in the Southeast US, the company announced August 20.
Quick translation for anyone picturing a mountain of literal black dust: black mass is what's left after old lithium-ion batteries get shredded.
Right now, most of it gets shipped to China because the US doesn't have enough refining capacity to handle it domestically. A new federal export ban just slammed that door shut, which means somebody has to actually build the plant to process it here instead. That's the job.
Nth Cycle's Project SHIELD will refine up to 24,000 metric tons of that scrap a year into nickel MHP and battery-grade lithium carbonate for defense systems, AI data centers, and grid storage.
The receipts so far:
$1.1 billion, 10-year offtake deal already signed with Trafigura
800 to 1,000 construction jobs, plus 54 permanent hires
Fairfield, Ohio sister plant hit 99% recovery and 98% purity in under 18 months
Small Footprint, Big Ambitions: The modular OYSTER system drops into existing buildings, permitting included, in as little as two years, at over 70% less capital cost than a traditional refinery.
Nothing's poured yet since the award still needs to clear negotiations, but for an industry tired of watching scrap leave the country only to come back as somebody else's product, this is the closest thing to a groundbreaking.
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