Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSX-V:ELBM, NASDAQ:ELBM) said its battery-grade cobalt supply agreement with LG Energy Solution has been extended and expanded from terms initially announced in September 2022.
“LG Energy Solution continues to strengthen its position as a global leader in the electric vehicle supply chain through its investments in Ontario and active collaboration with Canadian companies developing critical minerals and battery materials,” Trent Mell, CEO of Electra, said in a statement.
Electra will now supply LG Energy Solution with a total of 19,000 tonnes of battery-grade cobalt over a five-year period beginning in 2025 under an agreed pricing mechanism. The supply is to come from the only cobalt sulfate refinery in North America, located north of Toronto. The previous deal envisaged the supply of 7,000 tonnes of contained cobalt in a cobalt sulfate product over a three-year period, starting this year.
Electra and LG Energy Solution will also cooperate and explore ways to advance opportunities including securing of sustainable sources of raw materials.
The financial terms of the supply agreement were not disclosed.
Electra’s low-carbon hydrometallurgical refinery complex in Temiskaming Shores, near the Sudbury Nickel Basin, is currently under construction. It is also running a plant-scale black mass recycling trial to recover high-value elements contained in expired lithium-ion batteries. To date, Electra’s results from its plant-scale trial have met or exceeded results achieved previously in a lab setting.
At full capacity, Electra’s battery materials park could produce enough cobalt sulfate to supply up to 1.5 million electric vehicles per year and process 2,500 tonnes of black mass materials per annum.
Electra is a processor of low-carbon, ethically-sourced battery materials, currently commissioning North America’s only cobalt sulfate refinery.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com