US-based critical materials recovery company Bridge Green Upcycle and global commodities trader Hartree Partners have entered into a lithium carbonate commercial agreement with an initial eight-year term valued at between $500-million and $1-billion at current market prices.

Under the agreement, Hartree receives exclusive marketing rights for lithium carbonate produced by Bridge Green during the term; Hartree will purchase and market about 10 000 t/y of lithium carbonate of all grades produced at Bridge Green's facilities.

The parties can renew the agreement for an additional seven years.

The first lithium carbonate volumes under the Hartree agreement are projected in 2028.

The agreement coincides with an equity investment by Hartree in Bridge Green's bridge financing round to fund Bridge Green's planned expansion of battery recycling and critical-mineral refining.

Together, the transactions reflect Hartree's confidence in Bridge Green's technology, management team and its ability to scale domestic production of critical materials.

Bridge Green founder and CEO Balki Iyer says the supply agreement marks a defining milestone and a significant step towards developing a circular supply chain for Bridge Green.

"The scale and long-term commitment by Hartree following a rigorous evaluation process, provides strong validation of our technology and business model. More importantly, this accelerates deployment to support the domestic need for critical minerals."

In turn, Hartree battery and critical minerals head Landon Berns comments critical minerals are a key pillar of Hartree's growth strategy, and securing domestic supply and returning recovered materials to productive use are core parts of the group's approach.

The Bridge Green and Hartree agreement comes as governments treat lithium as a strategic commodity and seek more resilient supply chains for energy, manufacturing, technology, and defence.

The US remains import-reliant for more than 50% of its lithium supply, according to US Geological Survey data.

In February, the US government announced Project Vault, a proposed $12-billion public-private Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, for which Hartree was selected as a supplier. Therefore, the marketing agreement with Bridge Green forms part of Hartree's effort to build that supply portfolio.

On August 27, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security enacted a one-year export ban on battery-recycling material, including black mass, which requires recyclers to allocate monthly volumes to US-based counterparties, in an effort to retain critical minerals within the domestic supply chain.

Against this backdrop, the agreement helps position Hartree to secure domestic access to lithium and build out a more resilient domestic critical mineral supply chain.

Meanwhile, Bridge Green commissioned its Circularity Center India project in the second quarter this year, with a nameplate capacity of about 7 200 t/y of lithium-ion battery input.