First Cobalt Corp (CVE:FCC) (OTCQX:FTSSF) has said it is on schedule to have its recommissioned battery materials hydrometallurgical refinery north of Toronto complete in 4Q 2022.
The First Cobalt Refinery facility operated from 1996 to 2015, producing cobalt, nickel, copper and silver products. The company is currently expanding the facility and modifying the flow sheet to refine third-party cobalt hydroxide intermediate product into high purity, battery grade cobalt sulfate suitable for the electric vehicle market.
The low carbon footprint facility remains on schedule for commissioning at which time it will become the only refiner of battery-grade cobalt sulfate in North America and the second largest outside of China.
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First Cobalt noted that the recommissioning of plant utilities has been ongoing, including regulatory inspections and maintenance of electric power supply systems as well as inspection and maintenance of main water supply piping and pumping systems. Additionally, Soderholm Maritime Services mobilized a four-person diving crew to inspect existing lake water intake screening which feeds the main supply water pumping and piping network to the refinery.
Geotechnical drilling is also underway to gather analytical information for an enhanced design of the foundations for the new solvent extraction building, cobalt sulfate crystallizer building addition and the effluent treatment facility.
Improvements to the refinery access road have also been completed to allow for the heavier traffic of transport trucks.
First Cobalt is in receipt of a water permit and awaits two remaining permit amendments - an air/noise permit and industrial sewage works permit; and site closure plans have been submitted to regulators for review, with initial feedback received.
The revitalization is being funded from First Cobalt's $14 million treasury as the company's debt financing process progresses through the technical due diligence phase.
"Being located in Canada's largest mining and mineral processing corridor has allowed us to build a strong project team, most of whom are local and will remain with First Cobalt through commissioning and into operations," Mark Trevisiol, First Cobalt's vice president of Project Development said in a statement. "We continue to build the refinery expansion utilizing much of the existing physical asset. The equipment and processes selected are designed around our feedstock using known chemical processing methods employed in various other refining operations around the world."
A round of preliminary discussions have been held with government officials on the creation of a Battery Park on site, similar to the Harjavalta Industrial Park in Finland. As part of this strategy, First Cobalt envisions refining nickel and cobalt, in addition to recycling black mass from spent lithium-ion batteries.
"This is the first major battery-grade cobalt sulfate refinery to be built outside China in over 20 years, so this is not only an exciting project for us but also for the Western battery supply chain. Cobalt prices are up more than 20% over the past four weeks and we are witnessing stronger interest in offtake contracts as the battery supply chain shifts its focus from Europe to new investments in North America," Trevisiol added.
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