As the global transition to electric vehicles fuels an unprecedented demand for critical minerals, Korean government researchers have developed an eco-friendly method that uses freshwater microorganisms to recover more than 90 percent of the lithium locked inside spent batteries. The Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources, under the Ministry of Environment, said Monday that it successfully isolated a fungal strain capable of extracting valuable metals from "black powder" — the crushed, metal-rich byproduct of recycled lithium-ion batteries. The breakthrough centers on Aspergillus luchuensis, a microbe traditionally used in brewing traditional distilled spirits. In laboratory trials conducted at 80 degrees Celsius over 24 hours, the cultural fluid of the specific strain extracted up to 90.3 percent of the lithium from lithium cobalt oxide black powder, which is commonly found in consumer electronics. This represents an efficiency bump of 9 percent to 23 percent compared to conventional sulfuric acid treatments. Furthermore, when applied to NMC811 black powder — a high