First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) Corp said it awarded a contract for the design and manufacturing of solvent extraction cells to industry leader Metso Outotec. The latter will also offer technical support for the layout of a new solvent extraction plant and its process control.
Metso Outotec is recognized as a world leader in sustainable solutions for mineral processing and metal refining.
According to First Cobalt, the solvent extraction contract is the largest and most important equipment package now under contract.
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The mining and sustainable battery company tapped Metso Outotec due to its history of providing similar equipment to other operational cobalt sulfate refineries, thus lowering the execution risk for the company's strategy of producing battery-grade cobalt sulfate.
The commissioning of Phase I of First Cobalt's low-carbon hydrometallurgical refining strategy is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022, with a targeted annual production rate of 25,000 tonnes of cobalt sulfate.
“Once operational, First Cobalt's refinery will be the only producer of battery-grade cobalt for the North American electric vehicle market, capable of supplying over 1 million vehicles per annum, responding to strong demand in the accelerating EV revolution,” the company said.
When looking for a service provider First Cobalt fielded several tenders from global vendors and Metso Outotec was selected based on competitive pricing and its technically superior bid. This is evidenced by the installation time of the modular mixer-settlers, which is 30% less with Metso than the conventional solvent extraction mixer-settlers used at other projects.
"We are happy to be moving forward with Metso Outotec, an industry-leading business partner. Their expertise and ability to deliver quality projects significantly de-risks our own. We move one step closer to becoming North America's only provider of cobalt sulfate and we do not intend to stop there," Trent Mell, president and CEO at First Cobalt said in a statement.
He added: "Plans for our Canadian Battery Materials Park also include battery recycling, nickel sulfate production and a partnership with a battery precursor manufacturer."
The aforementioned Phase I deployment will focus on processing cobalt hydroxide to produce a high-quality, sustainable and traceable battery-grade cobalt sulfate.
Earlier this year, First Cobalt secured long-term cobalt hydroxide feed arrangements with Glencore AG and IXM SA, a subsidiary of CMOC, to provide a total of 4,500 tonnes of contained cobalt per year to the First Cobalt Refinery commencing in 4Q 2022.
In March 2021, the company further de-risked the project by signing a flexible, long-term, offtake agreement with Stratton Metal Resources Limited for the sale of future cobalt sulfate production, with quantities determined by First Cobalt.
The company is currently engaged in talks with automakers and battery suppliers who have a growing interest in sourcing battery material from North America.
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