R3 Lithium has initiated operations to produce lithium carbonate from fully recycled battery materials at its facility in Covington, Georgia, backed by $15 million in newly secured Series A funding.

The company acquired the 154,000-square-foot facility in July 2026 and retained the leadership team that previously demonstrated commercial-scale recycled lithium production at the site in 2025. The plant features 30,000 metric tons of annual shredding capacity alongside a 2,500-metric-ton lithium carbonate production line, with space allocated for a second identical line.

Financing from investors including Integral GlobalTech Partners, TDK Ventures and Axial Partners will be directed toward upgrading the production line to bring the facility to continuous commercial operation. R3 Lithium projects that the site will account for more than half of total United States lithium carbonate production in 2027.

“The U.S. has spent years discussing critical mineral independence while the vast majority of lithium processing has remained overseas,” said Linh Austin, President and CEO of R3 Lithium. “R3 Lithium is here today, with a proven facility that has already produced the product, the team that made it happen, and the capital needed to upgrade the line and keep it running, at commercial scale.”

— Linh Austin, President and CEO of R3 Lithium

The company processes materials on a single site through a calciner-based crystallization and water-based precipitation method that extracts lithium directly from black mass without primary mining or non-domestic refining. Remaining concentrated metal oxides rich in nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are separated and sold independently, establishing multiple revenue streams.

R3 Lithium holds approximately $1 billion in signed offtake agreements, including contracts with Trafigura.

“Battery manufacturers, the Department of Energy, and OEMs are increasingly seeking reliable sources of domestic lithium to support the growing U.S. battery supply chain and improve security of supply. To date, however, domestic supply has remained relatively limited,” said Tim Wood-Dow, Battery Metals Trader at Trafigura. “R3 Lithium’s Covington facility helps address that gap in the physical supply chain by producing lithium carbonate from recycled feedstock on U.S. soil.”

— Tim Wood-Dow, Battery Metals Trader at Trafigura

Beyond the Covington site, the company's broader growth blueprint involves establishing a modular network of 5,000-metric-ton-per-annum lithium carbonate and black mass shredding plants across North America and Europe, with deployments strictly underpinned by pre-existing offtake commitments.

Read the full announcement: R3 Lithium Announces Initiation of Operations to Recover, Refine and Return Critical Minerals to the U.S. Battery Supply Chain