Engineers from Aspiring Materials, a New Zealand-based clean-tech company, have developed a patented chemical process that transforms olivine into several useful materials, including hard-to-source battery metals.

Considered a waste product at mining sites, olivine, chemically known as magnesium-iron silicate, is a hard but brittle mineral used in ceramics and gemstones. It is also utilized in metalworking and gravel for road construction to some extent and is believed to be abundant in the Earth's upper mantle.

With Aspiring Materials' two-step chemical process, engineers can produce silica, magnesium, iron, and nickel-manganese-cobalt hydroxide, commonly referred to in the battery industry as NMC hydroxide.

The first step of the process involves mixing olivine in dust form with sulfuric acid inside a large tank. The addition of sulfuric acid turns olivine into what Megan Danczyk, lead chemical engineer, described as a "kind of elemental soup." 

Then, the mixture passes through reaction chain vessels, where the second step takes place. Caustic soda is added to the mixture, a step that allows engineers to extract three products: 50% silica, 40% magnesium, and 10% mixed metals. The 10% is a combination of iron and small quantities of NMC hydroxide, which is essential for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries and electrical systems. 

NMC hydroxide constitutes only about 1% of the overall output of the process. Nevertheless, Aspiring Materials's method is sustainable and cost-effective. Today, NMC materials are produced by combining salts of NMC. The problem lies in the fact that each mineral is sourced from different countries, namely Indonesia, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and will be processed in China. 

Read the full article here to learn more about olivine and Aspiring Materials's patented chemical process.

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