First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) Corp has outlined plans to establish North America's only battery materials park to serve the rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) market, and a name change to better reflect the company's long term vision.
The new name, which is still subject to shareholder approval, will be Electra Battery Materials Corporation (Electra).
The group's new expanded strategy is to provide battery grade cobalt to the North American EV supply chain, but also, in time, nickel, recycled battery materials and precursor material.
"Globalization has created an electric vehicle supply chain that is too long, too costly and increasingly unreliable," said Trent Mell, CEO of First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) in a statement. "Our automaker clients have a strong interest in greater localization of the upstream supply chain to achieve greater reliability, security of long-term supply, and a lower carbon footprint. With the continent's rich mineral endowment, the rationale for supplying battery materials through Asia into a growing U.S. EV market is not sustainable."
"Electra will act as a bridge between North American electric vehicles and a North American source of primary and recycled material, providing a low carbon solution for zero emission vehicles," Mell added.
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The company already owns North America's only permitted cobalt refinery and is currently expanding the facility north of Toronto to produce 5,000 tonnes of cobalt starting in the fourth quarter of 2022. It has also been testing black mass feeds from recycled batteries and will be announcing results from test work and engineering studies in the coming weeks.
The refinery already operated from 1996 to 2015, producing cobalt, nickel, copper and silver products and First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) noted that it was currently in talks with other market participants and government officials, who support its expansion plans.
Phase 1 of a four-phase plan is underway, noted the company, and expands the existing refinery complex to produce 26% of the ex-China supply of battery-grade cobalt.
Phase 2 involves treating battery materials from the cathode and anode of lithium batteries to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and graphite and a scoping study is nearing completion.
Plans are underway to commission a demonstration plant in 2022 then start treating black mass from batteries on a commercial basis in 2023, said the company.
In Phase 3, Electra intends to construct a modular nickel sulfate plant, initially producing over 60,000 tonnes of nickel, which will enable its ambition to build North America's first integrated Battery Materials Park.
Global consultancy CRU has been hired to complete a nickel market study, which will assess market conditions for a battery-grade nickel sulfate plant in North America.
The fourth phase of the strategy will see the construction of a battery precursor materials plant in 2025, likely with a joint-venture partner, First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) told investors. The firm said it wanted to replicate the successes of battery raw materials complexes in Finland, South Korea and China.
Electric vehicle sales in the US and Canada grew by nearly 130% year-over-year in the first half of 2021 to a total of almost 325,000 units, according to Rho Motion, an industry-leading electric vehicle and battery forecasting and analysis firm, it added.
Battery cell manufacturers and automakers are gearing up to supply the growing market and require a regional battery materials supply solution.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com