Electra Battery Materials

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]

Electra Battery Materials Corporation
NYSE: ELBM TSX: 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

History

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]

See also

References
  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.
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