A focus on producing secondary lithium carbonate through a network of post-treatment facilities is central to newly-formed R3 Lithium's strategy for tackling undercapacity in western battery metals recycling, Linh Austin, the company's chief executive officer, has told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview.

R3 Lithium is the new owner of the lithium carbonate recovery facility in Covington, Georgia, following the descent of former proprietor Ascend Elements into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April.

Expanding lithium carbonate recycling capacity

R3 is making moves towards restarting operations at the previously-idled facility from this month, Austin said earlier this month, with a nameplate output capacity of 2,500 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate of “99% purity lithium carbonate from 100% recycled content.”

“We are absolutely looking to expand that, so we would double that the capacity of that facility, and then for us that [kind of] becomes lithium in a box,” Austin said. “We would look then to really look about replicating that comparable size across Europe as well as North America.”

Together with the lithium carbonate, the facility produces what Austin calls concentrated metal oxide (CMO) — effectively the remnants of the black mass following the lithium extraction still containing materials like nickel, and cobalt — and which “is currently sold to others who can potentially do further refining,” he said.

Addressing the US refining bottleneck

US local black mass production capacity far outweighs local capabilities to refine these shredded battery scrap materials into recycled metals salts, Fastmarkets data shows, leading to large volumes of US black mass being exported abroad.

This supply-demand imbalance also makes the Covington facility very significant for the domestic market, Austin said, estimating that the input requirements of the facility for black mass production would be seven tonnes to one tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) produced.

Taking into account the Covington facility’s size of 2,500 tpy of LCE output, that would require around 17,500 tpy of black mass, while a doubling of the line would need 35,000 tpy of input. 

Securing feedstock through in-house shredding

The company’s first port of call for black mass supply will be its own shredding operations which has a nameplate capacity of 30,000 tpy, Austin said. The pre-processing facility was also built and run by previous owner Ascend Elements before bankruptcy.

Fastmarkets estimates that the US has production capacity of around 94,000 tpy of black mass based on shredding facility nameplate sizes, but capacity utilization at some facilities is believed to be under 50% operational rates due to tight scrap supplies.

“You know, we could build ten of these right now in [given] the black mass availability, and we would be fine,” Austin said. “I think that would make a pretty sizable dent in the supply-demand profile.”

US black mass export ban

This local supply-demand paradox has been brought sharply into focus by the recent rule changes in the US to ban exports of black mass for a temporary one-year period. 

Several US black mass producer companies have been busy applying for exemptions to continue to export the materials following the ban’s implementation on August 27, with some heard to be arguing to government officials that they may be unable to continue operating without access to export markets due to low local demand, sources said.

Black mass payables continue to rise

Black mass payables have been rising strongly over the last year, in line with higher lithium prices and a tight global supply-demand relationship only hampered by the US export ban, according to sources.

Fastmarkets’ weekly assessments of the black mass, NCM, payable indicator, nickel, max 5% moisture, cif South Korea, % payable LME Nickel cash official price and of the black mass, NCM, payable indicator, cobalt, max 5% moisture, cif South Korea, % payable Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) were both 100-105% on Wednesday September 9, up sharply from 76-81% year on year.

Ahead of the ban’s implementation, export sales were heard made of US NCM black mass with low copper and aluminium content at payables around 104-105% CIF Korea for nickel and cobalt including the value of lithium, while materials with high aluminium were heard done around 95-96% CIF Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, sales in the US were heard for low-impurity NCM materials at payables around 93-95% EXW on the same basis, around one month back, Fastmarkets understands.

With some companies heard to have secured exemptions to continue exports, Fastmarkets heard of US NCM black mass offers at 100-104% CIF Southeast Asia last week for payables of nickel and cobalt including the value of lithium.

South Korea imported 7,712 tonnes of US-origin black mass under HS code 262099 in 2026, up from 1,125 tonnes in 2025, according to Korean customs data, but more volumes were understood to have been shipped under different codes, sources said.

R3 prioritizes refined products over black mass sales

“We don’t see ourselves really [as] a big seller of black mass. That’s just not what we do,” Austin said. 

“If we have some spare black mass, happy to sell it, but our primary product is lithium carbonate and CMO, and what we would love is that there [was] capacity both in the US and Europe to refine that locally.”

While exporters jostle with exemptions, post-processing companies such as Nth Cycle, Princeton New Energy (PNE) and Aqua Metals have all welcomed the ban and made announcements that they will ramp up their domestic refining capabilities since the restriction’s news hit in late July.

Due to its comparatively large facility size among local refining companies, R3 Lithium also sees the export ban as an opportunity.

“We’re fully supportive of the administration’s aspiration, and we understand what they’re trying to do is keep the critical minerals domestic,” Austin said. 

“I think the challenge that we see though isn’t that there’s not [enough] recyclers, [it is] that the capacity and supply chain gap is really in the refining side of it,” he said, “and so, that is where we are.”

Lessons from Ascend

As the former CEO of Ascend Elements at the time it voluntarily initiated a Chapter 11 process in the US and the current CEO of R3 Lithium, Austin is uniquely placed to assess where lessons can be learned from the previous company.

Together with the Covington facility, Ascend Elements either had part or full ownership over: a headquarters and laboratory in Boston, Massachusetts; the major “Apex 1” recycling facility which was under construction in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and the joint venture AE Elemental battery involving a battery recycling facility in Poland.

“Through the restructuring process, basically the company was broken up into four different [transactions],” Austin said. “So those are all four different owners, four different businesses, and there’s just no real [relationship between them].”

Austin was appointed CEO and president of Ascend Elements in March 2025. He succeeded Michael O’Kronley, who was appointed CEO in March 2020 and had served on the company’s board since 2017.

New investors back R3 Lithium’s growth strategy

R3 Lithium has raised funding from investors including Integral GlobalTech Partners, TDK Ventures and Axial Partners, together with a joint venture based in Indonesia, Austin said.

One of the key differences between R3 Lithium’s strategy and that of Ascend Elements is a laser focus on lithium carbonate recycling rather than branching off into cathode active materials (CAM) or precursor cathode active materials (pCAM) production, according to Austin.

“I think in many ways this is a very, very different business, very different mindset and a very different leadership than [that] of Ascend Elements,” he said.

“We really focus on lithium carbonate [while] they were more of a cathode company [including] pCAM, CAM and graphite,” he said. 

“We’re lithium carbonate- we’re focused on a very specific commodity, and the way we think about the business because of that is also fundamentally different,” Austin said. “We’re focused on cost, we’re focused on scaling, and we’re really making sure that those are the things that underpin and drive this business.”

By Lee Allen, Fastmarkets

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