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Electra Battery Materials Corporation
Nasdaq: ELBM
TSX-V: ELBM
IndustryMetals and mining
FoundedMarch 2017, as First Cobalt Corp.
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Area served
North America
Key people
Trent Mell, CEO
Websitehttps://electrabmc.com

Electra Battery Materials Corporation (EBMC, formerly First Cobalt Corp.) is a Canadian multinational corporation engaged in mining and refining raw materials for electric batteries. Electra owns and operates the first fully permitted metallurgical refinery in North America for producing battery-grade cobalt and nickel sulfate.[1] The company also owns the Iron Creek cobalt-copper deposit in Lemhi County, Idaho, US.[2]

History

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Cobalt has historically been obtained as a byproduct of copper and nickel mining.[3] The electric vehicle boom in the 2010s created an increased demand for cobalt as a component of electric batteries. In response to that, Electra (First Cobalt Corporation at the time) emerged as a pure-play cobalt exploration and mining company in 2017.[4] The company completed a three way merger with CobalTech Mining Inc. and Cobalt One Ltd to consolidate its ownership of cobalt assets in the Ontario cobalt camp.[5][6]

First Cobalt acquired junior explorer US Cobalt in 2018 and took ownership of its Iron Creek cobalt-copper project.[7] The Iron Creek deposit is located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt, which is the second largest known source of cobalt in the United States. In a 2019 estimate, First Cobalt defined an indicated resource of 6000 tons of cobalt and 13,000 tons of copper contained in this deposit.[8][9] By 2021, the company doubled its land position surrounding the Iron Creek project.[10]

In late 2021, the company announced the creation of Electra Battery Materials Park at its Ontario refinery site, with the addition of a recycling plant for expired Lithium-ion batteries.[11] Soon after, the company changed its name to Electra Battery Materials to reflect the strategic shift from being a pure-play cobalt miner toward refining and recycling a wider variety of battery materials.[12] In June 2022, Electra started preliminary discussions with the Quebec government to build a second cobalt refinery in the Bécancour Industrial Park.[13]

In December 2022, Electra launched a black mass (shredded remains of Li-ion batteries) recycling trial and demonstrated capability to extract lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and graphite at scale.[14][15]

In August 2024, the United States Department of Defense announced a US$20 million award to Electra for the completion of the Ontario refinery and to start production of cobalt sulfate.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jarratt, Emma (20 July 2021). "Canadian refinery aims high with goal to build "battery park" in Ontario". Electric Autonomy Canada. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  2. ^ Holtz, Michael (24 January 2022). "Idaho Is Sitting on One of the Most Important Elements on Earth". The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  3. ^ Gordon, Katie (14 February 2022). "The Assay's Breakdown of the Cobalt Market". The Assay. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  4. ^ "The precious metal sparking a new gold rush". BBC News. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  5. ^ "First Cobalt Reveals Plans to Consolidate Ontario's Historic Cobalt Mining Camp". Junior Mining Network. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  6. ^ "The Canadian Ghost Town That Tesla Is Bringing Back to Life". Bloomberg.com. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  7. ^ "First Cobalt seeks N.A. pure play status by acquiring US Cobalt – Resource World Magazine". Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  8. ^ Holley, E.A.; Zaronikola, N.; Trouba, J.; Pfaff, K.; Thompson, J.; Spiller, E.; Anderson, C.; Eggert, R. (2023). "Cobalt mineralogy at the Iron Creek deposit, Idaho cobalt belt, USA: Implications for domestic critical mineral production". Geology. 51 (8): 773–778. doi:10.1130/G51160.1. S2CID 259053146. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  9. ^ Fattaruso, Laura; America, Geological Society of. "How much cobalt can be mined in the US? Study examines domestic mining site in Idaho". phys.org. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  10. ^ "First Cobalt doubles land position at Idaho project". MINING.COM. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  11. ^ Yakub, Mehanaz (12 November 2021). "First Cobalt rebrands to Electra, clarifies battery industrial park plan". Electric Autonomy Canada. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  12. ^ "After failing to find the motherlode, First Cobalt reinvents itself as a battery metal middle man". financialpost. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Electra studies new cobalt refinery in Quebec". Mining Weekly. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Electra produces lithium from battery recycling trial". MINING.COM. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  15. ^ Randall, Chris. "Electra Battery Materials successfully completes battery recycling trial". Electrive.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Department of Defense Awards $20 Million to Establish Sustainable Cobalt Sulfate Production for Large Capacity Battery Supply Chain". United States Department of Defense. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
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