ION to apply its technology to cobalt mining

Our recycling tech Investment IonDrive (ASX: ION) just signed a binding term sheet to apply its DES (Deep Eutectic Solvent) technology to recover cobalt - from one of Europe’s biggest undeveloped cobalt projects.

This will be the first time ION’s tech is applied directly to concentrates from a mine…

ION has already shown its technology can extract 98.6% of cobalt from battery black mass, so it will be interesting to see how the technology translates to mining processing.

Cobalt is a metal that can be used in metal alloys, but in more recent times has gained prominence for its use in higher energy density batteries.

Most raw supply comes from the DRC (accounting for around 80% in 2024) and most of it is processed in China.

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Of this, most supply is Chinese owned or controlled.

One of the main reasons we Invested in ION was because of how its tech could eventually be applied to process different materials over time.

We even showed this chart:

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Now we will see if ION’s technology works by recovering cobalt from mining concentrates…

More on today’s deal:

ION will apply its tech to mining concentrates produced by Latitude 66 from its project in Finland.

LAT66 holds one of the largest undeveloped cobalt resources, is located in Europe, so any success would allow ION to be strategically placed in the European critical minerals supply chain.

(just as ION’s CEO gets ready to roadshow the company around Europe) (source)

At the moment a lot of the market's interest is on US critical minerals.

Europe hasn’t really reacted in the same way as the US yet… but we think that could happen overnight with a few announcements from EU leaders.

IF/When that day comes ION would have already positioned itself as an exposure to that macro thematic.

ION is a part of an EU consortium going for grant funding of €3.1 million - a consortium includes automotive OEMs, battery manufacturers, material processors, and recyclers). (source)

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Given the Chinese restrictions and a focus from Europe to do things cleaner and greener, this may be the perfect time for ION to be exploring the application of its technology to the mining sector.

How does ION’s tech work?

ION’s potential breakthrough technology has already shown at lab scale that it can produce very high recoveries of the following metals:

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Below is a larger list of metals that Deep Eutectic Solvents (which ION uses in its IP protected processing technology) have been tried and tested on in metals extraction and recycling - we’ve highlighted some of the key critical metals:

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Note: this chart shows metals amenable to Deep Eutectic Solvent chemistry in general, and have not necessarily been specifically tested by ION.

What’s next for ION?

Over the next 6-9 months, we think one (or multiple) of the below catalysts could trigger a sustained re-rate in ION’s market cap:

1. US rare earths partnership - ION will now test its tech on e-waste feedstock to see if it can commercially recover rare earths. IF successful, ION’s tech could be rolled out across recycling facilities processing ~40M lbs of e-waste feedstocks annually.
   
   
2. Pilot plant build for battery recycling tech - as mentioned prior, we think this will be a big inflection point for ION. ION expects to have the plant built and commercially producing by “early 2026”.
3. EU grant decision - ION has also applied for a €3.1M EU grant with a consortium that includes “carmakers, battery manufacturers, material processors, and recyclers”. We expect an update within the next 3 months.
4. ION’s mineral processing tech gets de-risked - ION is currently testing its technology on “US sourced feedstock”. Any big feedstock supply deal, partnership deal or any strong recovery results could be a big unexpected catalyst for ION.
5. Application into new markets - Here, ION is looking at recovering copper, gold, silver, osmium and rare earth elements from e-waste (Printed Circuit Boards). Results from these tests could come at arbitrary times. We could see the market re-rate ION if the results are positive.
6. Graphite upgrade results - updates on this front came from a recent ION’s announcement. If ION can produce anode-grade graphite from recycled black mass, it could add to the economics of its pilot plant and strengthen the commercial case for a bigger plant. See our Quick Take on that news here.
7. Testing on EU cobalt deposit - ION has signed a deal with ASX listed Latitude 66 to test its tech on the company’s cobalt project in Finland.

Here is a nice slide from ION’s latest presentation that summarises everything that is coming:

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