Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSX-V:ELBM, OTCQX:ELBMF) has updated on the progress of building North America's only battery grade cobalt refinery, saying the project remains on budget, at US$67 million, and on schedule to be commissioned in December this year.
As of February 1, 2022, the company said US$27 million had been committed to procurement activities and the fabrication of major long-lead equipment is underway, including solvent extraction, crystallization and filters.
Construction of the new solvent extraction building and crystallization facility is scheduled to begin at the end of the first quarter, while May 2022 will see the arrival of key equipment on site, said the company. Brownfield mechanical equipment verification is 50% complete with all major existing equipment having been tested and demolition of redundant circuits underway.
"Our plant will be one of two major cobalt sulfate refineries outside China, with an estimated 5% of global market share once operating at full capacity," Trent Mell, CEO of Electra told investors in a statement.
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"We are assessing opportunities to build an additional cobalt refinery at a second location to address projected supply shortages for the electric vehicle market. The evolution towards lower cobalt content in the dominant EV batteries will be more than offset by larger battery packs and growing adoption rates. We forecast that cobalt demand will grow by more than 11,500 tonnes per annum, for a 30% growth from 2021 to 2025," Mell added.
Electra Battery Materials wants to produce enough material to supply batteries for up to 1.5 million electric vehicles a year and is building a four-phase battery materials park hosting cobalt and nickel sulfate production plants, a large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility, and a battery precursor materials partnership.
The cobalt plant will be the first phase of the Battery Materials Park project. In coming years, Electra intends to build further processing capacity for nickel sulfate, recycling of primary and secondary battery scrap materials and precursor production.
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