Cyclic Materials has successfully completed a pilot plant in Kingston, Ontario, which uses its proprietary Mag-Xtract technology to isolate magnets from recycled end-of-life products. This helps in differentiating magnet-containing shredding from other scrap materials like copper, steel and aluminium.
This new pilot plant has a design capacity of 1,000 kg/hour (8,000 tonnes per year) and has demonstrated successful initial runs processing several tonnes of magnet feedstock per day.
The rare earth metals group has become a valuable resource for high-technology and low-carbon industries, but rapid global industrialisation and population growth are leading to increased pressure on the availability of raw materials.
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The utility and demand ratio for rare earth metals is estimated to triple by 2030. China currently dominates the market by supplying between 95-97% of global demand, but concerns over future availability have been raised, which is why Cyclic Materials is aiming to help the global transition to an eco-friendly, sustainable future by recovering rare earth elements from products that are difficult to recycle.
Operational protocol of the company
Cyclic Materials aims to reduce the pressure to open new greenfield mines, improve the resilience of supply chains, create jobs, and enable new technologies by providing regional supplies of critical metals. The company is scaling its proprietary hydrometallurgy technology to convert magnet feedstock and manufacturing waste into mixed rare earth oxide, cobalt-nickel hydroxide, and other by-products.
Cyclic co-founder and CEO, in his own words
The co-founder and CEO of Cyclic Materials, Ahmad Ghahreman, announced: "The launch of our pilot plant is a major step forward for developing a domestic, circular supply chain for critical materials at the scale required to support the clean energy transition and technological innovation."
"Our magnet-agnostic recycling technology produces one of the cleanest and highest quality mixed rare earth oxide products available on the global market - an environmentally sustainable, first-of-its-kind solution to the limited international supply of critical magnet materials," he added.
The company has already developed an initial proof-of-concept of Mag-Xtract, processing 4,000 kg of magnet-containing products from end-of-life products, including copper, aluminium, and steel, which are critical to the development of electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, and other technologies.
Outlook for Cyclic Materials
Cyclic Materials has collected over US$30m in funding from investors, including BMW iVentures, Energy Impact Partners, Planetary Capital, Fifth Wall, and Bio-industrial Innovation Canada, to develop its advanced metals recycling processes.
Sustainable Technology Development Canada (SDTC) has also provided the company with a US$2.6m grant. This technology's first commercial demonstration plant is currently under development in Kingston, Ontario, with a target launch date in Q2 2024.
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