Leadership transition marks new era for Mint, coincides with separation of lithium-ion battery business; Mint retains minority stake in Linca and accelerates U.S. expansion.AUCKLAND, New Zealand and LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mint Innovation, the critical minerals recovery company whose hydrometallurgical process produced the first certified batch of closed-loop recycled copper for HP Inc. earlier this year, today announced two coordinated moves to accelerate its next phase of growth. The company named Matt Bedingfield Global CEO, effective immediately, taking over from Will Barker who has championed Mint from test tube to commercial prototype. At the same time, Mint has also completed the spin-out of its lithium-ion battery recovery business into an independent company called Linca, led by Mint co-founder Dr. Ollie Crush. The combined actions sharpen Mint's focus on its core printed circuit board metals recovery business at a moment when sovereign supply chain pressure, AI-driven copper demand, and U.S. industrial policy have converged on the company's market. Mint will retain a minority shareholding in Linca. The two companies will continue to share their Auckland, New Zealand headquarters and collaborate on technology, talent, and operations. "Mint is entering its commercial scale-up," said Bedingfield. "Our copper and precious-metals recovery business is being asked to do more, faster, by customers who need a domestic alternative to smelting. Current metals market dynamics, the policy environment and interest from large corporates such as HP all point in one direction. The right move now is to focus the company on that opportunity and give Linca the independence to capture its own." Bedingfield, previously Mint's Global President, has led the company's U.S. expansion. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, he brings two decades of experience scaling industrial and recycling businesses across North America and Asia-Pacific. Linca: A Dedicated Critical Minerals Recovery Business Linca will focus on recovering lithium, nickel, and cobalt from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, targeting the rapidly expanding electric vehicle and energy storage markets. Its proprietary hydrometallurgical process refines battery "black mass" with significantly less waste and a smaller environmental footprint than traditional high-heat methods. Like Mint's model, the technology is designed for deployment in compact, city-scale facilities to enable domestic recovery and strengthen local supply chains. Prior to the spin-out, the lithium-ion battery programme secured £8.1 million in consortium backing from Jaguar Land Rover, LiBatt Recycling, and WMG at the University of Warwick to advance its demonstration-scale black mass refining technology. Of that total, £4.05 million was awarded by the UK Department for Business and Trade through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. Linca's seed funding round, led by Motion Capital, has recently reached its first close. "The EV battery recycling market is at an inflection point, and the opportunity demands a company built specifically to capture it," said Dr. Ollie Crush, CEO of Linca. "We've proven our hydrometallurgical process can recover lithium, nickel, and cobalt. As an independent company, Linca can move at the pace this market requires to scale the technology further." Mint's Next Chapter: Critical Minerals at Scale Mint's hydrometallurgical process recovers copper, gold, silver, tin, and palladium from printed circuit boards using a low-temperature method that requires no smelting and can be deployed in urban areas. The company's Longview, Texas biorefinery, currently under construction, will be the first U.S.  commercial facility of its kind. In March 2026, Mint and HP announced the first certified closed-loop recycled copper batch, with the recovered material returned to specific HP product lines. "This is the moment to lean in," Bedingfield said. "Manufacturers want domestic, traceable copper. Policymakers want resilient sovereign supply chains. We have a technology that delivers both, at a footprint a fraction of the size of a traditional smelter. About Mint Innovation Founded in 2016, Mint Innovation is a critical minerals recovery company that extracts copper, gold, silver, and other high-value metals from electronic waste using a proprietary low-carbon hydrometallurgical process. Designed for deployment in compact, city-scale facilities, Mint's technology offers a domestic alternative to traditional smelting and keeps high-value metals in local supply chains. The company produced the industry's first certified batch of closed-loop recycled copper in partnership with HP. and is building its first U.S. commercial facility in Longview, Texas. Mint was recognised as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer in 2022 and won the 2023 InnovationAus Awards for Advanced Manufacturing. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=PhVPXENjHJa-WnNBLQDW_bcoHDe_m8wIwkxhBRKC88vZ7Eeib3z4Hg7yObIum2XfLSeRNmAfQUhMtVgHqXl03Q==" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">www.mint.bio</a>. About Linca Linca is a critical minerals recovery company focused on extracting lithium, nickel, and cobalt from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. Spun out of Mint Innovation in 2026, Linca uses a proprietary hydrometallurgical process to refine battery "black mass" in compact, city-scale facilities, delivering domestic supply of battery-grade metals with significantly less waste and a smaller environmental footprint than conventional high-heat methods. The company is backed by £8.1 million in consortium support from Jaguar Land Rover, LiBatt Recycling, and WMG at the University of Warwick, with a demonstration facility under construction. Linca is led by CEO Dr. Ollie Crush, Mint Innovation co-founder and former Chief Science Officer. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=66EVCHsUy_JdmCzUwDxYip9T8YRRxUp4QnhPhUGyFw64ubVq7ScBjUSeIVzWuudKOn5YKOMtjLPG_dj2yw7qUw==" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">www.linca.co</a>. <pre>CONTACT: Lauren O'Brien
Mint Innovation 
Lobrien@craftdc.com
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Mint Innovation Names Matt Bedingfield Global CEO, Spins Out Linca to Sharpen Focus on Critical Minerals Recovery

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