Nth Cycle receives $1 million innovation grant to support sustainable cobalt supply in North America

Nth Cycle has been awarded a $1 million National Science Foundation Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. The funding is in support of building a sustainable domestic supply of cobalt and other critical minerals in North America. The project received an SBIR Phase I award in 2019. Nth Cycle's clean and modular electro-extraction technology can salvage cobalt and other critical minerals from a variety of ore and low-grade mine tailings for use in new domestic clean energy technology production like batteries for electric vehicles, wind turbine generators, or energy storage.

Nth Cycle is capable of processing these metals at 75 percent lower carbon intensity while operating at a significantly lower cost through 60 percent energy savings compared to traditional technologies. Mining and upgrading domestic critical minerals sustainably is crucial for building a clean energy future domestically.

"To compete in a rapidly expanding global clean energy economy, North America needs a supply of critical minerals that is affordable and responsibly mined. Today's methods of refining cobalt and other critical minerals are dirty, and not economical for the low grades of ore we have available. We're working to shift that paradigm by creating a clean, low-cost, and greater supply of critical minerals," said Megan O'Connor, CEO of Nth Cycle. "This supply is essential if we want to meet our goals for electric vehicle, energy storage and wind power adoption this decade."

Demand for the critical minerals necessary to power the clean energy transition is growing exponentially. Nth Cycle's modular electro-extraction technology is used by miners as an alternative or enhancement to older processing technologies