With the new arrangement, Lucid hopes the ease the procurement of rare earth minerals for use in automotive manufacturing by U.S.-based automakers and Tier 1 suppliers. The Minerals for National Automotive Competitiveness Collaboration (MINAC) has multiple targets at launch.
For starters, the partners aim to advance domestic mineral production through the completion of offtake agreements for American critical minerals. To help achieve this, they have also mentioned the step of identifying and resolving barriers, as well as accelerating commercialisation and customer adoption. Furthermore, they want to expand coordination between the US-American mining and automotive sectors. Finally, they will support the qualification and procurement of domestically produced materials by U.S.-based automakers and Tier 1 suppliers.
So far, the specific steps the collaboration plans to take are somewhat vague; however, as a first step, Lucid and its partners held a roundtable discussion and event in July in Washington, D.C., together with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Sen. Dan Sullivan (AK), and Reps. Nick Begich (AK) and Andy Biggs (AZ).
Lucid chose its partners rather carefully, each to represent a specific mineral that the automobile manufacturer is interested in. Graphite One, as the name suggests, is developing facilities for the production of graphite in various locations across the United States, including synthetic graphite in Ohio and natural graphite in Northern Alaska. Lucid already has an offtake agreement with the company.
Electric Metals USA is working on a manganese project in Minnesota. Lucid is interested in the material as a component in lithium-ion battery cathodes to lower cost and enhance energy density. Alaska Energy Metals is working on establishing a major nickel project in Alaska, which also plays a role in battery chemistry. Finally, RecycLiCo is a critical mineral refining company which specializes in “hydrometallurgical technologies for processing mined ore and the upcycling of lithium-ion battery materials. RecycLiCo’s processes efficiently recover battery-ready lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese from end-of-life batteries,” as Lucid wrote in its press release.
“Domestic supply chains strengthen manufacturing resilience, fortify sustainable supply chains, and accelerate job growth,” said Marc Winterhoff, Interim CEO of Lucid, adding: “Following in the footsteps of our previous agreements, today we are doubling down on our commitment to powering American innovation and look forward to working with our partners as we built the next generation of automotive manufacturing in the United States.”
Gregory Beischer, President & CEO of Alaska Energy Metals, added: “Sourcing minerals domestically enables better regulatory oversight, higher environmental standards, metal source traceability, and responsible sourcing. This approach mitigates harmful environmental and human rights risks often associated with foreign mining operations and provides an opportunity to improve the livelihoods of American communities.”
