LOHUM, ReElement, & American Metals Invest $30 Mn In US

To build a new facility in the US, Indian critical minerals producer LOHUM Cleantech signed the MoU with US modular processing technology company ReElement Technologies Corporation and American Metals LLC. The MoU marks the beginning of a joint venture for the United States fully integrated battery recycling, repurposing, and critical material production facility. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signifies the initiation of the joint venture between the companies for a 15.5 GWh facility in the United States.

This facility will be established with an initial investment of $30 million and is expected to create 250 green jobs. The partnership is anticipated to initially supply over 315,000 electric vehicles annually, with continued growth based on feedstock availability.

The joint venture aims to create a domestic ecosystem of recycled, high-purity lithium for developing North America’s lithium-based battery manufacturing supply chain. The facility, powered by LOHUM’s and ReElement’s capabilities, will significantly reduce capital expenditure, physical footprint, environmental impact, and operational expenditure associated with the separation and purification of battery materials.

The integrated end-to-end battery and critical minerals lifecycle management facility will encompass the entire value chain, from battery cell testing and segregation for second-life energy storage applications to recycling, mineral refining, engineered materials, and battery-grade products. The facility will produce critical materials with purity levels greater than 99.5%, which can then circulate within the US domestic battery ecosystem.

The initial operating location will be at the Marion Advanced Technology Center in Indiana, which will eventually expand to other locations as determined by the joint venture partners.

Addressing the development, Rajat Verma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LOHUM, stated, “As LOHUM expands its presence in North America, we welcome this opportunity to partner with ReElement and American Metals, companies that share LOHUM’s goals of ‘making battery materials last forever.’ We believe the joint venture will be instrumental in building resilient critical material supply chains in the US that can sustain themselves through circularity. This is an inspiring development in US-India technology collaboration through market entities.”

Speaking on the joint venture, Mark Jensen, Chairman of American Metals and ReElement Technologies, stated, “We have been working with LOHUM to figure out how to leverage our unique capabilities and world-leading technologies at ReElement, along with the innovative and scaled-up approach to critical minerals recycling and refining that LOHUM has established. We are pleased that ReElement and LOHUM are partnering in a joint venture to leverage both ReElement’s and LOHUM’s vast experience in recycling lithium-ion batteries.”