Australia-based Jervois Mining is set to acquire eCobalt Solutions after the cobalt producer’s shareholders voted in favour of the deal.
Jervois will acquire eCobalt in a deal valued at C$57.6m ($44.1m). The acquisition will enable the company to become the owner of the Idaho Cobalt Project in North America.
Jervois announced this proposed takeover in April. It will see the company acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the cobalt firm.
Cobalt is a key material used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Prices of the material have collapsed by 70% to around $28,000 a tonne over the past year due to high supply from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cobalt is becoming increasingly important in the global minerals trade and prior to the merger, Jervois and eCobalt were eager to take advantage of cobalt reserves they had access to.
Jervois has been making investments aimed at becoming a leading supplier of materials outside of China, which dominates the EV supply chain. It closed a deal to acquire M2 Cobalt, a Canada-based cobalt explorer with operations in Uganda.
The deal to acquire M2 Cobalt was initially signed in January this year.
M2 Cobalt has 100% ownership in prospective properties in Uganda. It has a strong operating presence in Uganda alongside strong relationships with local government and stakeholders. Its projects are at target drilling stage and indicate strong anomalies.
Under the deal, Jervois provided one share for every share in M2 Cobalt. The deal has taken the Canadian company’s value to $12.5m, a 4.5% premium at present share prices.
