Aqua Metals, Inc., a developer of sustainable battery metals recycling and refining technologies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MOBY Robotics Inc. to evaluate environmentally responsible refining of deep-sea polymetallic nodules.
MOBY Robotics’ autonomous, AI-coordinated ocean robots that recover critical minerals cleanly and at scale.
The collaboration focuses on producing battery-grade materials, including nickel, cobalt, manganese, and rare earth elements, for use in electric vehicles (EVs), grid-scale batteries, and clean-energy technologies.
These critical minerals are essential for components such as cathodes in lithium-ion batteries and permanent magnets in electric motors.
Under the MOU, Aqua Metals and MOBY Robotics will assess the technical and commercial feasibility of adapting Aqua Metals’ low-temperature AquaRefining process to process polymetallic nodules. Bench-scale testing is expected to begin later this year to determine recovery efficiency and suitability for large-scale operations.
The companies will also evaluate opportunities to extract and refine rare earth elements from the nodules to expand domestic supply for electric mobility and advanced manufacturing.
Deep-sea nodules are rock-like deposits located on the ocean floor that contain high concentrations of critical minerals used in cathode chemistries for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage systems. By applying a low-emission, closed-loop refining approach, Aqua Metals aims to demonstrate a pathway for recovering these materials with lower environmental impact than conventional pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods.
This collaboration builds on Aqua Metals’ ongoing work to extend its refining technology beyond lithium-ion battery recycling toward diversified, domestic sources of critical minerals. The initiative supports efforts to strengthen the North American supply chain for battery materials, reduce reliance on overseas processing, and contribute to the broader transition toward electrified transportation.
Filed Under: Batteries, Electric Motor, Technology News