Aqua Metals–American Battery Factory deal: closed-loop LFP supply chain insights
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Aqua Metals and American Battery Factory have signed a non-binding MOU to evaluate co-locating an Aqua Metals lithium-ion recycling plant next to ABF’s planned LFP cell gigafactory in Tucson, Arizona, creating a closed-loop route for manufacturing scrap. The proposed commercial facility would process up to 10,000 tonnes per year of lithium-ion materials and return battery-grade lithium carbonate directly into ABF’s supply chain or to designated offtakers, using Aqua Metals’ electricity-powered AquaRefining system instead of conventional pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy. Aqua Metals is already targeting 2027 supply of up to 1,000 tonnes per year of recycled nickel carbonate to Westwin Elements under a separate LOI.
Technical Brief
- MOU between Aqua Metals and ABF is non-binding, so project remains at evaluation stage.
- Collaboration explicitly targets domestic processing of manufacturing scrap and black mass currently exported mainly to Asia.
- AquaRefining replaces high-temperature furnaces and chemical‑intensive hydrometallurgy with an electricity‑powered, closed‑loop wet process.
- Process is framed as better suited to US regulatory and labour conditions than conventional pyrometallurgical/hydrometallurgical routes.
- Aqua Metals states output purity is “battery‑grade” lithium carbonate suitable for direct reuse in cell manufacturing lines.
- Separate LOI with Westwin Elements covers up to 1,000 t/y recycled nickel carbonate from 2027, worth ~US$12m/y.
Our Take
Lithium and nickel stories make up a noticeable subset of the 35 recent Materials items in our database, but very few involve long-horizon supply structures like the 20‑year Commonwealth LNG–Mercuria deal noted here, signalling that battery metals recycling partnerships in the USA are still mostly at an earlier, more flexible stage of commercial structuring.
With the USA and Arizona recurring in our coverage as hubs for lithium and other critical minerals projects, a recycling tie-up between Aqua Metals and American Battery Factory positions Tucson within the same emerging domestic supply chain push that is otherwise dominated by greenfield extraction and midstream processing announcements.
The presence of gold and silver alongside lithium and nickel in the commodity list reflects a pattern in our database where multi-metal recovery from battery and electronic waste is gaining traction, suggesting that any Aqua Metals–ABF flowsheet that can capture precious metals could materially improve project economics compared with single-metal recycling plants.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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