Nth Cycle

Nth Cycle is a U.S. critical-minerals refining and recycling technology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, co-founded by MIT professor Desiree Plata. Its patented electro-extraction process recovers nickel, cobalt, manganese and rare-earth elements from black mass, scrap, tailings and ore concentrates, producing battery-grade mixed hydroxide precipitate and other refined products with substantially lower emissions than conventional hydrometallurgy. The company has operated its first commercial system in Fairfield, Ohio since 2024, producing domestic nickel and cobalt. Nth Cycle is scaling its modular refining platform to reshore critical-metals supply chains in the United States and Europe, and partnered with Ionic Technologies to build a Western rare-earth magnet-metal supply chain. In 2026 it signed a roughly $1.1 billion agreement with commodity trader Trafigura to quadruple its processing capacity, positioning the company as a key independent Western refiner.