Canada’s First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC) released an update Wednesday on the progress of recommissioning its cobalt refinery in partnership with Glencore (LON:GLEN).
The mining and commodities trader giant is lending First Cobalt an initial $5 million to restart the company’s refinery in Ontario, which would become the only primary producer of refined cobalt for the electric vehicle (EV) market in North America.
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“With Glencore as our partner, our intention is to bring a reliable source of ethical cobalt to North America in 2020”
Trent Mell, First Cobalt CEO
Glencore said in August that once a definitive feasibility study for a planned expansion is completed, which is expected to happen in early 2020, it would invest another $40 million into recommissioning and expanding the refinery, located 600 km from the US-Canada border.
First Cobalt says it is on schedule for Q1 2020 completion of a prefeasibility study for a 12 t/d restart and a second definitive feasibility study for a 55 t/d expansion scenario in the second half of 2021.
“With Glencore as our partner, our intention is to bring a reliable source of ethical cobalt to North America in 2020s,” said Trent Mell, the company’s president and CEO.
Based on a scoping study released earlier this year, the capital cost of expanding the First Cobalt refinery to 55 t/d came in at $37.5 million. An estimated 25,000 tonnes per year of battery grade cobalt sulphate could be produced.
At market close Wednesday, First Cobalt’s stock was up over 4% on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company has a C$46.5 million market capitalization.
