Nth Cycle to go public in SPAC merger deal  

Critical minerals refiner Nth Cycle announced Wednesday it would go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI (NYSE: KCAC).  

The merger will value Nth Cycle at $585 million, and the deal is expected to provide up to $230 million from Kensington’s trust account and up to $100 million from a common stock PIPE, according to a Reuters report.  

On closing, the combined company will be named Nth Cycle Holdings, Inc., and its common stock is expected to trade on the NYSE under the new ticker symbol “NTH”. 

Nth Cycle’s technology, designed to be used in a portable system it has branded ‘Oyster,’ utilizes an electrochemical process to selectively extract nickel and cobalt from scrap, batteries or mined rock.  

The Oyster system converts the rare earth elements, copper, and battery metals found in mined and recycled materials into industrial-grade inputs for strategic industries. 

In March, the Massachusetts-based firm signed a binding 10-year agreement with Trafigura valued at approximately $1.1 billion. 

“Critical minerals are abundant across the West — but they have little to no commercial value until refined. That single chokepoint has left the United States, Europe, and allied nations entirely dependent on China, which has a tighter grip on these essential resources than OPEC ever had on oil,” Nth Cycle CEO Dr. Megan O’Connor said in a news release.  

“We’ve changed that with our modular refining system and are excited to partner with Kensington to scale our platform at the cost, speed, and efficiency Western markets demand,” she said.