Nth Cycle Signs Over $1 Billion Critical Minerals Offtake Agreement with Glencore

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 22, U.S. critical minerals refining company Nth Cycle signed a binding term sheet with Glencore to establish feedstock supply and product offtake cooperation around Nth Cycle's planned Project SHIELD battery materials refining project. Based on the two parties' calculations using forecast prices for the second quarter of 2026, the agreement corresponds to a 10-year offtake value exceeding $1 billion.

This cooperation first locks in both ends of Project SHIELD: feedstock and products. Glencore will supply 100% of the black mass feedstock for the project through its commercial network and its already operating U.S. battery shredding assets; Nth Cycle will supply Glencore with high-purity nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and battery-grade lithium carbonate produced by the project. The two parties will also evaluate using an existing, already developed Glencore site in the United States to build the project, in order to shorten the facility construction cycle.

Project SHIELD is a commercial-scale black mass refining project that Nth Cycle is advancing, with planned annual processing capacity of up to 24,000 tonnes of domestic black mass, using its OYSTER electrochemical extraction system to produce high-purity nickel MHP and battery-grade lithium carbonate. In August, the U.S. Department of Energy selected the project to enter negotiations for up to $100 million in funding. The project targets refining black mass from spent lithium-ion batteries, and its downstream products will enter supply chains for applications including energy storage, transportation, defense, and data centers.

The scope of cooperation between the two parties also extends beyond U.S. projects. Under the terms, Nth Cycle and Glencore will jointly study deploying the OYSTER system in Europe to process black mass, and evaluate cooperation on rare earth and copper recycling globally. Public documents have not yet disclosed the final site selection, start of construction date, investment amount for Project SHIELD, or the specific annual volumes of nickel and lithium corresponding to Glencore's offtake volume in this agreement.

Nth Cycle previously signed another 10-year offtake term sheet with Trafigura in March of this year, valued at approximately $1.1 billion, corresponding to the purchase of nickel in 2,000 tonnes of MHP and 1,500 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate. With this new cooperation with Glencore, Nth Cycle has further locked in new black mass feedstock sources and product buyers during the advancement phase of Project SHIELD.

Nth Cycle is currently advancing a business combination with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI. After the transaction is completed, it plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the name Nth Cycle Holdings, with the proposed ticker symbol "NTH." The transaction announced by the two parties in July corresponds to an estimated enterprise value of approximately $585 million for Nth Cycle.