Envirostream Australia, a 24% subsidiary of Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT), announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with South Korean company SungEel HiTech Co. for the sale of recycled battery metals.
In a media statement, the companies involved in the deal said that Envirostraem will supply SungEel with mixed metal dust (MMD) containing cobalt, nickel and lithium recovered from spent LIBs at the Australian company’s battery recycling plant in Melbourne.
The plan is for SungEel to use the minerals to supply environmentally sustainable technology projects that benefit from a circular battery economy.
According to Adrian Griffin, Lithium Australia’s managing director, Envirostream’s next MMD shipment to SungEel should take place later this month.
In the executive’s view, expanding Envirostream’s processing capacity to keep spent LIBs from landfill and export the energy metals they contain is imperative for Australia.
“Closing the loop on the production of battery materials reduces the environmental footprint of the mining and processing aspects inherent in LIB production, improves sustainability and prevents the components of spent LIBs from leaking into groundwater and oceans as a consequence of their relegation to landfill or transport to other jurisdictions,” Griffin said.
