Mkango subsidiary Maginito inks exclusive deal with Inserma Anoia

Mkango Resources and its subsidiary Maginito announced a significant exclusive agreement with Inserma Anoia on Tuesday, to commercialise and optimise pre-processing technologies for rare earth magnet recovery from hard disk drives (HDDs), loudspeakers, and electric motors.

The AIM-traded firm said the collaboration marked a strategic advancement in the recycling of critical minerals, particularly neodymium, essential for clean energy technologies.

Under the agreement, Inserma's advanced mobile pre-processing units, which can be co-located at hyperscale data centres or recycling facilities, would rapidly extract the voice coil motor (VCM) containing rare earth magnets from HDDs.

The process, taking less than three seconds per HDD, provides a concentrated feed for HyProMag’s Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) technology, enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of rare earth magnet recycling.

Maginito and Inserma planned to deploy the pre-processing units across multiple regions, including the UK, Germany, and the United States.

The initial phase would include the purchase of three units to catalyse the technology's roll-out.

Mkango said the agreement aimed to eventually scale up to hundreds of units globally, targeting a range of end-of-life applications.

The collaboration was poised to significantly reduce the cost and carbon footprint associated with recycling HDDs, offering secure data destruction and facilitating subsequent shredding processes.

Mkango said the partnership would also provide Maginito with exclusive rights to pre-processed scrap, supporting HyProMag’s short-loop rare earth magnet recycling efforts.

“We are very excited to be working with Inserma on the commercialisation of its groundbreaking suite of technologies, which are highly complementary to HyProMag's HPMS technology,” said Mkango chief executive officer William Dawes.

“We aim to provide a win-win circular solution to customers for recovery of rare earth magnets from a range of applications, lowering the carbon footprint, cost and generating additional benefits from hitherto unrealised value streams.”

At 1134 BST, shares in Mkango Resources were up 3.04% at 6.44p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.