Finance
Glencore's former head of recycling launches critical minerals processing firm
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Valor, a new firm led by ex-Glencore chief Kunal Sinha, seeks to revolutionize critical minerals processing using innovative ligand technology.
By Ernest Scheyder
(Reuters) -The former head of Glencore's recycling business is launching a U.S.-based metals processing company with the goal of lowering the cost and time to refine copper and other critical minerals.
The move comes amid increased pressure on industry from Washington and other governments for better processing options to boost the supply of minerals for artificial intelligence computer servers, weapons and other electronics. The U.S. processes very few critical minerals. China is the top processor of many.
Kunal Sinha left Glencore last Friday after nearly 14 years in various roles, most recently as head of the recycling division. On Monday, he formed the New York-based processing startup Valor with technology developed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Valor's technology uses ligands — a type of molecule — to bind to a metal when placed in a solution and an electric current is applied. For instance, the ligand could be programmed to bind to copper or rare earths and not nickel.
The technology can in theory be used to extract a range of metals from hard rock mines, recycled batteries or deep-sea nodules, and it could be at least ten times cheaper and faster than traditional processing methods without producing any waste, Sinha said, although it needs to be tested on a larger scale.
Sinha said he left Glencore partly drawn by the appeal of starting his own company.
"There is a lot of value to be created by improving (minerals) processing in the West," said Sinha, 44, who is also an advisor to rare earth magnet startup REalloys and an investor in magnesium processing startup Magrathea.
The company is launching a fundraising push with the goal of developing a demonstration plant in Massachusetts or New York. Full commercial production of at least five metals is expected within two to three years, Sinha said.
Glencore declined to comment.
(Reporting by Ernest ScheyderEditing by Marguerita Choy)
Kunal Sinha, the former head of Glencore's recycling business, is launching the new U.S.-based metals processing company called Valor.
Valor's technology aims to lower the cost and time required to refine copper and other critical minerals, potentially making the process ten times cheaper and faster than traditional methods.
Valor is looking to develop a demonstration plant in either Massachusetts or New York as part of its fundraising push.
Valor's technology uses ligands, which are molecules that bind to metals when placed in a solution with an electric current applied, allowing for the extraction of various metals.
Kunal Sinha was partly drawn to start his own company due to the value that can be created by improving minerals processing in the West.
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