Canadian resources company Mkango Resources says it will work with Spain’s Inserma Anoia to commercialise the latter’s technology for recovering computer disk drive magnets and build a feed source for its emerging HyProMag HPMS (Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap) process.
Mkango, through 79%-owned Maginito, wants to become a significant producer of recycled rare earth magnets, alloys and oxides on the back of the HPMS recycling technology developed at England’s University of Birmingham with about US$100 million of research and development funding, and potential primary RE production from a mine in Malawi.
Toronto-listed technology investment company CoTec Holdings, which owns the other 21% of Maginito, describes the latest mobile, automated Inserma unit as a key-pre-processing technology for securing magnet scrap from rapidly expanding hyperscale data centres.
Maginito has HyProMag subsidiaries working to commercialise HPMS in the UK and Germany, and a 50% stake in HyProMag USA LLC in an equal joint venture with CoTec. A collaboration agreement with Japan’s Envipro was announced in June this year.
Mkango, CoTec and HyProMag are said to be engaging in the US and other key markets with “major hyperscale data centre providers, shredders, recycling companies … showing strong interest in deploying the [Inserma] technology in parallel with HPMS”.
CoTec CEO Julian Treger said Inserma was a potentially important piece in a “scalable solution [for] large technology and automative companies which allows for closed loop and secure recycling … at the lowest cost and lowest carbon footprint compared to traditional mining processes and alternative recycling technologies”.
Maginito is initially buying three circa-€40,000 Inserma hard disc drive (HDD) pre-processing units and will “assist with arranging funding, where required, for R&D prototypes, demonstration and commercial plants for deployment internationally”.
“An upgraded, next-generation, fully automated unit for commercial pre-processing of HDDs was recently successfully trialled with thousands of HDDs at HyProMag GmbH’s site in Germany, providing feed for processing in the HPMS pilot plant located at the University of Birmingham,” Maginito said.
“The latest mobile Inserma unit for HDD can be co-located at hyperscale data centres, shredding, recycling or HyProMag facilities.
“These Inserma units rapidly remove – less than three seconds per HDD – the voice call motor, or VCM, containing the rare earth magnet, providing a highly concentrated feed for HPMS. Simultaneous removal of the centre spindle also facilitates downstream shredding of the rest of the HDD.
“The technology not only provides a steady neodymium magnet scrap feed to HyProMag, but also has major benefits for sustainable, secure and low-cost recycling of HDDs.
“The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to enable deployment of hundreds of pre-processing units, across multiple jurisdictions, providing pre-processing solutions for a range of end-of-life applications, including HDDs, loudspeakers and electric motors, and generating feed for the HyProMag short loop rare earth magnet recycling process.”
Inserma said it would work exclusively with Maginito in the field of rare earths.
Maginito has sole offtake rights for pre-processed customer scrap.
