LONDON July 18, 2024: Circulor’s traceability solution will enable Talon to trace its nickel and copper concentrates as well as recovered by-products, such as iron compounds for LFP batteries, cobalt, platinum group metals and gold.

The Circulor solution facilitates verifiable qualitative distinctions such as provenance, production standards and embedded CO₂ intensity.

Tracing minerals produced with high standards will allow battery makers and EV manufacturers to ensure their mineral sourcing aligns with ESG commitments and regulations, such as the U.S. IRA and the EU’s Battery Regulation, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Talon Metals Corp. (“Talon”) (TSX:TLO) has committed to using Circulor’s best in class traceability solution to assure that Talon’s mineral production is fully traceable throughout supply chains from the mine to recycling.

Circulor’s unique solution ensures critical mineral supply chain traceability through complex industrial supply chains, especially for EV battery, electronic, and defense related manufacturing.

“Deploying Circulor’s technology fulfils Talon’s commitment to produce nickel and other critical minerals at the highest possible standards for labor rights, environmental protection and indigenous participation in clean energy projects. Using Circulor’s technology will ensure that our customers, and in turn their customers, have a verifiable record that the nickel in their battery was produced at high standards in the United States,” said Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon.

The Talon-Circulor partnership supports domestic supply chains for critical minerals like nickel—it also positions Talon’s production to meet the requirements of the European Union’s Battery Regulation, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

​Circulor’s CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen commented, “We applaud Talon for their unwavering commitment to high standards in mineral production, and we’re pleased to be their partner in providing transparency so that Talon’s customers know that the products they receive are sustainable, responsible, and American made. It’s only by coupling responsible, sustainable production in the upstream with material traceability that we ensure the energy transition protects our fellow people and our planet.”

The Circulor solution digitally tracks critical minerals through extraction, processing, and manufacturing processes, all the way to cell, pack, and vehicle production. This digital chain of custody can also incorporate independent standards like IRMA or Nickel Mark so that downstream recipients differentiate the material itself by third-party audit results.

“We have already started the process for self-assessment under IRMA’s “IRMA Ready” standard for junior mining projects that are not yet in production. Tracing technology that validates an independent assessment of mineral production will be a vital tool for battery manufacturers and automakers to eliminate reputational risk in their mineral sourcing,” said Todd Malan, Talon’s Chief External Affairs Officer and Head of Climate Strategy. “Tracing also provides the granular, audit-level data, attributed to the material or product itself to comply with government requirements such as the U.S. Clean Vehicle Tax Credit and the EU Battery Regulation.”

Traceability of newly mined minerals is also an important contribution to future recycling. “The critical minerals we can responsibly extract from the ground in Minnesota and process in North Dakota are infinitely recyclable,” added Talon’s Malan. “Mining these elements today in a responsible manner is a contribution to future generations’ ability to have a more circular system that relies on recycling. There are not enough critical minerals in use today to achieve the scale of our ambitions in the clean energy transition. Tracing minerals produced today will ensure that their provenance, production standards and CO₂ intensity can be traced all the way to the recycling stage and then accounted for in many future uses.”