UK based lithium firms agree collaboration
Watercycle Technologies and Tees Valley Lithium (TVL) will advance onsite lithium refining and recovery using UK technology.
Watercycle Technologies says the agreement has the potential to unlock up to c.US$16mln/annum.
Watercycle Technologies operates Europe’s first commercial direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant producing lithium carbonate at its facility in Runcorn.
The supply framework enables TVL to process additional recycled lithium material through its refinery, increasing recycled content and feedstock flexibility without altering the core process design.
It establishes a framework for up to 50,000t of additional recycled lithium feedstock and embedding digital tracking capability at a batch level from 2028 for a five-year period.
Based on wastewater specifications and volume, Watercycle Technologies says the proposed recovery route is expected to enable the recovery of up to approximately 800t/annum of lithium carbonate equivalent.
The Heads of Terms define the key commercial and technical parameters for a potential long-term supply arrangement, including product specifications, recycled content, validation and qualification processes, volumes of up to 10,000t/annum, and index-linked pricing principles.
Separately, TVL has partnered with Circulor, a provider of digital product passport solutions for the electronic vehicle and battery materials sectors.
This partnership will deliver a digital tracking platform that records material inputs and outputs across the refinery and enables the measurement of recycled content at a batch level.
