08:48 AM EDT, 06/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Electra Battery Materials ( ELBM ) and the Three Fires Group on Thursday announced "significant progress" on the Aki Battery Recycling joint venture.

The company stated that the joint venture, launched in 2024, is the first Indigenous-led lithium-ion battery recycling initiative in Canada. Reggie George was appointed as president and Andre Marais as director of strategy & corporate development of Aki Battery Recycling.

A company statement noted that Aki will process lithium-ion battery end-of-life and manufacturing scrap in a state-of-the-art pre-processing facility to produce high-grade copper, aluminum, and steel products through a battery pack and module dismantling process. The company added that the remaining material is then put through a shredding process to generate a high value intermediate product known as black mass.

"By reclaiming materials and minimizing waste, Aki embodies a regenerative model of economic growth that supports both people and planet," said Reggie George. "Through this venture, we are creating long-term opportunities, reclaiming ownership over our resources, and building an economy that is both clean and culturally grounded."

Electra's hydrometallurgical refinery north of Toronto will process black mass produced by Aki, which is expected to result in "one of the lowest carbon footprint recycling supply chains in the world," said the company.

"The integration of Aki's upstream black mass production with Electra's downstream hydrometallurgical refining creates a vertically aligned, closed-loop system optimized for efficiency, traceability, and material recovery," said George Puvvada, technology adviser to Aki Battery Recycling. "This alignment ensures feedstock consistency and process compatibility, enabling the higher recoveries of battery-grade materials that meet OEM specifications for reintegration into North American cell production."

In U.S. pre-market trading, Electra Battery Materials ( ELBM ) was last seen down 2.7% to $1.0313.