ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, June 16 -- The U.S. Department of Energy Sandia National Laboratories issued the following news release: * * * Mining batteries, in a microwave * Instead of letting old lithium-ion batteries pile up as waste, Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a microwave-based process to recover and remake their cathodes, potentially turning spent batteries into a new domestic source of critical materials.  Lithium-ion batteries power everything from phones an  more