Rare earth mining companies aren’t exactly setting the investment world on fire, but for that same reason, prepare to hear about more electronics and automotive manufacturers seeking ways to “mine” these and other precious metals out of end-of-life or discarded products—everything from mobile phones to wind turbines to spent batteries.
One notable example is Honda’s move last year with Japan Metals & Chemicals (JMC) to start reusing rare earth substances in used nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in new ones—after announcing its intention to do so in 2012. The automaker is using molten salt electrolysis to pull the materials out of an oxide extracted from the batteries: removing about 80 percent of what’s in the original. Those substances are being supplied to a battery maker, which is using them for negative electrode materials in hybrid vehicle batteries.
Belgian company Umicore actually made this commercially feasible even earlier than Honda. The company, which processes more than 350,000 tons of every year including industrial by-products, catalysts and end-of-life products, has a partnership with chemical company Rhodia that is also focused on NiMH.
Rechargeable NiMH batteries are found in everything from cordless phones, toys and games to power tools to hybrid electric vehicles. There’s about 1 gram (0.03 ounces of rare earth stuff in an AAA battery and up to 2 kilograms (4 pounds, 6 ounces) in a hybrid EV battery. Lithium-ion batteries don’t have the same recovery potential.
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Source: Forbes
By Heather Clancey