The invention relates to hydrometallurgical method for recovering metals from spent energy storage devices. The method comprises combining aqueous hydrobromic acid leach solution and an electrode material of spent energy storage devices in a reaction vessel, dissolving the metals contained in the electrode material to form soluble metal bromide salts, removing elemental bromine, if formed, from the reaction vessel, separating insoluble material, if present, from the leach solution to obtain a metal-bearing solution and isolating one or more metals from said metal-bearing solution.

Cathode material from exhausted lithium ion batteries are dissolved in a solution for extracting the useful elements Co (cobalt), Ni (nickel), Al (Aluminum) and Mn (manganese) to produce active cathode materials for new batteries. The solution includes compounds of desirable materials such as cobalt, nickel, aluminum and manganese dissolved as compounds from the exhausted cathode material of spent cells. Depending on a desired proportion, or ratio, of the desired materials, raw materials are added to the solution to achieve the desired ratio of the commingled compounds for the recycled cathode material for new cells. The desired materials precipitate out of solution without extensive heating or separation of the desired materials into individual compounds or elements. The resulting active cathode material has the predetermined ratio for use in new cells, and avoids high heat typically required to separate the useful elements because the desired materials remain commingled in solution.

A method for extracting secondary metal values from a sulfuric acid leachate is provided. The method includes providing a leachate which contains a primary metal and a plurality of secondary metals, wherein the primary metal is selected from the group consisting of Cu, Li and Ni and is derived from sulfuric acid leaching of an ore; passing the leachate through a first ion exchange resin which is selective to, and releasably binds, the plurality of secondary metals; stripping the plurality of secondary metals from the second or third ion exchange resins, thereby obtaining a first extract; and recovering the secondary metals from the first extract. In some embodiments, prior to passing the leachate through the first ion exchange resin, the leachate is passed through a second ion exchange resin which is selective to, and releasably binds, one of the plurality of secondary metals. The one of the secondary metals is then stripped from the second exchange resin, thereby obtaining a second extract, and the one of the secondary metals is recovered from the second extract.

A method (2800) of selectively leaching one or more manganese-containing phases from a mixed-phase battery electrode material comprises treating (2802) the mixed-phase battery electrode material with a solution of an acid, the acid acting as both a leaching agent and a reducing agent, so as to form a manganese-containing leachate whilst leaving at least one phase of the battery electrode material unleached, wherein the acid has a pKa greater than or equal to 2. Either or both of the leachate and the remaining electrode material may then be regenerated (2806, 2808).

A process for treating spent lithium ion batteries to recover metals is disclosed. The process includes discharging the spent lithium ion batteries. The discharged lithium ion batteries are shredded and roasted in a furnace to produce roasted material. The roasted material is sieved to separate a coarser fraction and a finer fraction. The coarser fraction comprises aluminium chips and copper chips. The finer fraction is further treated to recover copper, cobalt, and nickel sequentially with a purity of 99.3-99.9%. The process also recovers manganese as manganese dioxide and lithium as lithium carbonate. The process does not generate any solid waste as all the metals and by-products such as carbon powder and gypsum cake are saleable.

A method for reducing waste by recovering transition metal of a lithium secondary battery of the present invention includes preparing a cathode active material from a cathode of the lithium secondary battery, producing a first leachate by treating the cathode active material with a first acidic solution containing a reducing agent in an amount smaller than an amount corresponding to a reaction equivalent of the cathode active material, and producing a second leachate by treating the remaining cathode active material, which excludes a fraction contained in the first leachate, with a second acidic solution containing a reducing agent. Accordingly, extraction rate of manganese and purity of cobalt may be improved.

The present disclosure is directed, in certain embodiments, to processes for recovering metals from polymetallic nodules. The processes may include one or both of (i) a weak acid wash of the polymetallic nodule material and (ii) nano-filtration and/or limestone neutralization of recycled manganese-rich stream to remove magnesium from process streams to improve the recovery of target metals, including manganese. The processes may include cobalt and/or nickel solvent extraction to improve metal(s) recovery.

A method for extracting metals from the black mass of lithium-ion batteries, the black mass containing the anode and cathode materials of the batteries, and the cathode material including lithium and nickel. An arrangement is provided that is suitable for use in the method.

A method of extracting a plurality of battery materials from lithium batteries. The one or more battery materials recovered are selected from magnetic steel, copper, plastic, Aluminium, and dry mixed electrode powder.

The invention relates to hydrometallurgical method for recovering metals from spent energy storage devices. The method comprises combining aqueous hydrobromic acid leach solution and an electrode material of spent energy storage devices in a reaction vessel, dissolving the metals contained in the electrode material to form soluble metal bromide salts, removing elemental bromine, if formed, from the reaction vessel, separating insoluble material, if present, from the leach solution to obtain a metal-bearing solution and isolating one or more metals from said metal-bearing solution.