Glencore's former head of recycling launches critical minerals processing firm

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)