Nth Cycle signs offtake agreement with Trafigura

Nth Cycle has signed a 10-year agreement with global commodities trader Trafigura to market nickel- and lithium-bearing materials produced by Nth Cycle’s recycling and refining technology.

Nth Cycle, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, says the recycled materials to be marketed could reach $1.1 billion in value.

The agreement was signed at an event where representatives from the Trump administration hosted government and business leaders in Tokyo to discuss energy security at an Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum.

Under the agreement, Singapore-based Trafigura will purchase 2,000 metric tons of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and 1,500 metric tons of lithium carbonate, which will be refined from 12,000 metric tons of black mass.

The companies say the agreement marks “a significant milestone" for Western supply chains and the largest multimetal commercial agreement between a recycled feedstock supplier and refiner.

Nth Cycle is in the process of building on the 2024 commercialization of a plant in Fairfield, Ohio, and now plans to start new operations in South Carolina and the Netherlands to support production. There, Nth Cycle says it will install its Oyster system in both regions, with a site selection process taking place this year and operations scheduled to begin in 2028.

Nth Cycle says Oyster has a modular, compact design that reduces build time from five or more years to under two, reduces capital spending by up to 70 percent, and produces competitive margins at a five- to 10-times smaller scale.

“There is an urgent need to build capacity for black mass refining and develop more diversified and robust supply chains, particularly in the U.S., where securing domestic critical mineral processing capabilities is increasingly central to energy and industrial policy,” Nth Cycle co-founder and CEO Megan O'Connor says.

“We are delighted to be working with Nth Cycle to strengthen and diversify critical minerals supply chains,” says Daniel von Arx, global head of battery metals at Trafigura. “There are no critical minerals without refining, and the signing of this offtake agreement demonstrates our commitment to supporting critical minerals security. The combination of Nth Cycle’s innovative refining technology and our global reach, scale and logistics network positions us to connect these vital resources with customers around the world.”