Recovery of Battery Materials from Primary and Secondary Sources

Europe needs large amounts of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite for batteries—but is heavily dependent on imports. The EU project M-BAT demonstrates how these raw materials can be extracted from European sources: from ore tailings, metallurgical sludges, “black mass” from old batteries, and geothermal brines. In collaboration with industrial partners, Fraunhofer ISE develops and demonstrates the complete process chain from the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) method under real geothermal conditions to product precipitation under real geothermal conditions, delivering battery-grade lithium carbonate for NMC cells.

Initial Situation

The demand for batteries for electric mobility and stationary storage is rapidly increasing. Consequently, the need for critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite is also rising. Currently, the majority of these materials are mined and processed outside of Europe—often in countries with high geopolitical risks and sometimes problematic environmental and social standards. At the same time, large quantities of potentially valuable by-products are generated in Europe: waste heaps from mining, metallurgical sludges, residues from battery recycling, and mineralized thermal waters from geothermal plants. These resources are still largely underutilized. Technically robust, economical, and sustainable processes for extracting battery-grade materials from these streams are largely lacking.

Objective

M-BAT aims to strengthen Europe’s strategic independence in the battery value chain. To this end, four innovative processes for extracting battery-grade materials from European primary and secondary sources are being developed and demonstrated in an industrially relevant environment (TRL 6/7). Ore tailings, metallurgical sludges, “black mass” from old batteries, and geothermal brines will be processed. This will yield highly pure sulfates of cobalt, nickel, and manganese, graphite, and lithium carbonate for NMC811 cathodes and anode materials. Simultaneously, the processes will be optimized according to the principle of "Safe and Sustainable by Design" and evaluated in terms of ecological balance, costs, and social impacts.

Approach

M-BAT focuses on four complementary process lines:

1. Graphite and battery-grade metal salts recovery from 'Black Mass' using flotation and hydrometallurgical methods.
2. Hydrometallurgical processing of nickel and cobalt tailings from copper production.
3. Acid leaching of sulfidic tailings with subsequent selective cobalt separation. The remaining iron-rich solid is used as a raw material in cement production.
4. Electrochemical direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines followed by lithium carbonate precipitation.

This process is led by Fraunhofer ISE and leverages experience from past projects. The research team employs the principle of the "lithium-ion pump." By using an electrical field, lithium ions are specifically deposited into a lithium-manganese oxide electrode. Reversing the polarity releases the ions back into a separate solution. Simultaneously, sodium ions are absorbed to ensure charge balance. This results in the formation of a concentrated and pure lithium chloride solution while consuming sodium ions.

Results

The project aims to demonstrate processes for producing battery-grade lithium carbonate, cobalt, nickel, and manganese sulfates, as well as graphite—achieving high yields and significantly reduced environmental impacts compared to conventional methods. The planned pilot plant at Cornish Lithium’s geothermal site is designed to produce approximately 350 kg of lithium carbonate per year, demonstrating the technical feasibility of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) under real-world geothermal conditions. All recovered materials will be tested by CIC energiGUNE and CeNTI in NMC-811 cathodes, graphite anodes, and complete cells. Life cycle assessments (LCAs), cost analyses, and socio-economic studies will provide the decision-making basis for future industrial scaling and expansion across Europe.

• IDENER Research & Development AIE (Koordinator, ES)
• Fraunhofer ISE (DE)
• Universität Bremen (DE)
• Lukasiewicz – Instytut Metali Nieżelaznych (PL)
• Cactus Investigación Cualitativa y Comunicación S.L. (ES)
• Cobre Las Cruces S.A. (ES)
• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
• CETAQUA – Centro Tecnológico del Agua (ES)
• CIC energiGUNE (ES)
• CeNTI – Centro de Nanotecnologia e Materiais Técnicos Funcionais e Inteligentes (PT)
• Università degli Studi di Torino (IT)
• Asistencias Técnicas Clave S.L. (ES)
• Agency of European Innovations (UA)
• Batpower – Portuguese Battery Cluster (PT)
• ENERIS B&R Sp. z o.o. (PL)
• KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (PL)
• Industria Cementi Giovanni Rossi S.p.A. (IT)
• Cornish Lithium PLC (UK)