MiniMines reports high-purity mineral recovery from spent batteries

MiniMines co-founder and chief executive Anupam Kumar told Hindustan Times that the company's patented Hybrid-Hydrometallurgy process combines extraction, separation and beneficiation to recover 96 percent of the lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper in spent batteries, at a purity above 99 percent, and that it works across battery chemistries from wristwatches to electric buses, drones, mobile phones and laptops. Kumar said the process is a closed loop with no solid, liquid or gaseous waste, since any by-product becomes raw material for another industry. The company plans to scale processing capacity to about 45,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2028, on 40 acres of subsidised Karnataka government land awarded for a refining complex. MiniMines works with cell manufacturers Exide Ola, Nash Energy and Ather Energy, and has received a Rs 10 crore TDB grant along with backing from Oil India and UNIDO. Chief technology officer Arvind Bhardwaj said further government studies are still needed to establish the extent of India's domestic lithium reserves.