Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSX-V:ELBM, NASDAQ:ELBM) has announced the acquisition of the CAS cobalt property, which is adjacent to its projects in Idaho, with historic drill results that included 6.3 metres (m) of 0.5% cobalt and 7.5 parts per million (ppm) gold from 77.5m to 83.8m.
The processor of low-carbon, ethically-sourced battery materials also said permitting is underway for a 10-year, 92 drill pad plan of operations with the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS) to conduct systematic exploration at camp scale on the Iron Creek, Ruby, and CAS targets, as well as additional exploration targets within Electra’s 32.6 square kilometre land package.
“While our primary focus continues to centre on the commissioning of North American’s first cobalt sulfate refinery and launching our battery materials recycling demonstration plant in the coming weeks, advancing exploration activities in the Idaho Cobalt Belt are key to our long-term growth and efforts to onshore the EV (electric vehicle) battery supply chain,” Electra Battery Materials CEO Trent Mell said in a statement.
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Electra noted that rights to the CAS property were acquired for US$1.5 million, payable over 10 years upon completion of specific milestones, with the underlying claim owner retaining a 1.5% net smelter return (NSR) purchasable by Electra for US$500,000 within one year of commercial production from the CAS property.
Combined with Electra’s Iron Creek and Ruby properties, the company said the addition of CAS provides Electra with three significant areas of cobalt occurrences within close proximity to each other, with potential to expand the cobalt endowment of the camp.
As well, Electra said “significant” cobalt mineralization was intercepted in all drill holes completed by the company in 2022 at both the Iron Creek and Ruby targets, with final drill assays that included 5.6m of 0.25% cobalt in Iron Creek drill hole IC22-01 from 228.8m to 234.3m, as well as 4.3m of 0.25% cobalt in Ruby drill hole IC22-04 from 211.4m to 215.8m.
The company also stated that there is a possibility that Iron Creek and Ruby may be structurally dismembered portions of the same deposit, noting additional exploration is warranted to explore the gap between the two target areas.
Electra Battery Materials is a processor of low-carbon, ethically-sourced battery materials. Currently commissioning North America's only cobalt sulfate refinery, the company is executing a multi-pronged strategy focused on onshoring the electric vehicle supply chain.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com