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Cobalt Town

The dark side of Cobalt, the digital age’s miracle metal – by Charlie Angus (Toronto Star – January 30, 2022)

https://www.thestar.com/

Charlie Angus looks at lessons from an early 20th-century mining rush. An excerpt from the new book by the New Democrat MP for Timmins—James Bay, “Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower.”

The world is searching for cobalt, the miracle ingredient of the digital age. The metal’s capacity to store energy and stabilize conductors has made possible the proliferation of rechargeable batteries, smartphones and laptops. More crucially, in the face of catastrophic climate change, cobalt offers the hope of a clean-energy future.

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The Drift: Temiskaming battery metals park should fill missing link in electric vehicle battery supply chain – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 28, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Electra Battery Materials’ integrated metals processing complex could bring 200 to 300 jobs

Trent Mell and Electra Battery Materials are out to occupy some crucial middle ground in the growing North American electric vehicle industry.

The Toronto company is refurbishing a once-shuttered refinery outside the town of Cobalt that’s 12 months away from the start of production to process cobalt hydroxide coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo into cobalt sulfate, one of the critical materials needed for manufacturing rechargeable batteries for the automakers. But they’re not stopping there.

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After failing to find the motherlode, First Cobalt reinvents itself as a battery metal middle man – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – November 20, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

In early 2018, Trent Mell, chief executive of Toronto-based First Cobalt Corp., was riding high on hopes that his company would discover a motherlode of cobalt in North America — a key component in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries.

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, much of which comes from small-scale and artisanal mines, where the use of child labour, dangerous working conditions and other human rights abuses have been well-documented.

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Junior miner hunts for ‘missed’ silver in historic Temiskaming camp – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 18, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Kuya Silver takes a second, in-depth look near former Silver Centre mines

Vancouver silver explorer Kuya Silver is on its second round of deeper drilling in the historic Silver Centre mining camp, south of the town of Cobalt. The company announced recently it has started a 2,000-metre drill program at its Silver Kings Joint Venture.

Kuya has an option to acquire a 70 per cent interest in the land holdings of Electra Battery Materials (formerly known First Cobalt) in on a jointly held area known as the Silver Kings Project.

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Temiskaming could be the North American refining hub to feed the electric vehicle market – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 9, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt unveils ambitious expansion plans to create battery metals industrial park in northeastern Ontario

For Trent Mell, it makes little sense to mine the metals needed to power the coming electrical vehicle (EV) revolution here, ship it overseas to Asia refiners to make into battery-grade material, and then send it back to North America to use in car production.

If the president-CEO of First Cobalt has his way, the Temiskaming district will be this continent’s centre of production to deliver many of those key ingredients, shorten the logistics journey, and help create a secure home-grown supply chain for EV makers for the first time ever.

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First Cobalt wants to go big on a battery metals processing park for Temiskaming – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 8, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Refinery developer wants to supply battery-grade metals for North American car market

The Toronto company behind the refurbishment of a mothballed Temiskaming hydrometallurgical refinery said it’s going all in on creating a “battery park” to feed refined cobalt and nickel to the electric vehicle market.

First Cobalt announced it’s making a name change and other strategic moves toward providing North American automakers with a domestic source of raw material with a proposed industrial park outside the town of Cobalt in northeastern Ontario.

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Construction contract awarded for Timiskaming cobalt refinery – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 5, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The upcoming construction picture for a Temiskaming-area cobalt refinery is beginning to take shape with the awarding of a major metals processing contract.

First Cobalt selected Metso Outotec for the design and manufacturing of the equipment for a new solvent extraction plant and its process controls. Metso Outotec is a leading global company in the field of sustainable mineral processing and metal refining equipment.

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Global cobalt supply deficit ‘not as dire,’ analysts say (S&P Global Market Intelligence – September 28, 2021)

https://www.spglobal.com/

A market deficit for cobalt is narrowing as the world’s leading producers of the prized metal expand production to meet the spike in demand for batteries used in electric vehicles.

Amid the surge in EV sales this year, hunger for cobalt drove major producers to announce plans to increase output at multiple mine sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo and balance the market.

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Cobalt company collaborates with Timiskaming First Nation on medicinal, edible plant study – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 28, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt partners on Indigenous community initiative to assess long-term impacts of industrial contamination on wild plants

The Toronto mining company that’s overhauling a metals refinery outside the town of Cobalt has launched a unique environmental and community initiative with an area First Nation.

First Cobalt is working with Timiskaming First Nation on a two-year study to assess the historic impact of settlement, logging, mining and industrial processes on the ecosystem in the former Cobalt mining district.

Specifically, this tag-team study is examining the long-term impact on medicinal plants and mushrooms in this area of the Timiskaming region.

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Cobalt refinery operators have ambitious plans for ‘Battery Park’ – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 14, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt seeks to bring manufacturing partner to northeastern Ontario for value-added processing

The company refurbishing a mothballed metals refinery near the town of Cobalt are discussing the idea of creating a Battery Park, catering to the supply chain needs of the North American electric vehicle industry.

Toronto’s First Cobalt wants to produce refined cobalt at the facility, along with a used battery recycling plant, but they’re also strategizing to produce nickel sulfate on the same site, five kilometres outside of town, within the next few years. Both nickel and cobalt are used in electric vehicle battery production.

For First Cobalt, this is a US$60-million expenditure to bring the former Yukon refinery back to life. The facility ran for about a decade – producing cobalt, nickel, copper, silver and other products – before being shuttered in 2015. First Cobalt acquired the shuttered building in 2017.

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Cobalt hunter eyes Gowganda, Elk Lake for processing hub – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 26, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Battery Mineral Resources posts resource estimate of cobalt and silver deposit

Battery Mineral Resources (BMR) has come out of the shadows to post a first-time resource for a cobalt and silver property, southwest of Gowganda.

The low key Vancouver-based explorer, formerly known as Fusion Gold, released a maiden resource of more than a million pounds of cobalt at its McAra Project, according to an April 22 news release.

As the largest claims holder in the historic Gowganda-Cobalt silver mining camp, BMR thinks there’s enough mine potential among its nine exploration properties clustered in this area to consider establishing a processing plant.

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First Cobalt’s man with the marketing plan – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 8, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Michael Insulan appointed by cobalt processor to advance offtake strategy

First Cobalt wants to hit the ground running by the time its refurbished northeastern Ontario refinery is fired up by the fall of 2022. The Toronto cobalt processor has appointed Michael Insulan as its vice-president, commercial.

Based in Europe, his strategic priority will be to key in on major battery suppliers, the automotive sector and all things to do with the lithium-ion battery supply chain sector.

Insulan has nearly 20 years of experience in oil and gas, bulk commodities, base and minor metals, working for Royal Dutch Shell, CRU, and Eurasian Resources Group. The last four years, he’s become known as an industry expert on cobalt.

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Silver explorer sees multi-million-ounce production potential in historic Cobalt camp – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 17, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Kuya Silver queues up exploration program to chase high-grade silver veins

A Toronto silver mine developer aims to return the shine to the historic Cobalt silver camp.

David Stein, president-CEO of Kuya Silver, believes a recently-acquired property in the Temiskaming area can be a “meaningful” silver producer within the next few years.

While the company’s main focus is on putting a dormant silver mine in Peru back into operation this year, Stein said its Silver Kings Project, just south of the town of Cobalt, figures prominently in their plans and can be the next mine in their rotation.

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Gowganda silver, cobalt explorer starting pilot plant to make electric vehicle battery material – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 19, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A junior mining company with ambitious plans to be a Northern Ontario supplier of material for electric vehicle manufacturers said it’s a step closer to realizing those plans.

Toronto’s Canada Silver Cobalt Works announced last week that a first-stage pilot plant of its cobalt extraction technology will be built by SGS Canada at its metallurgical and analytical labs at Lakefield in southern Ontario.

The cobalt sulphate and refined material produced from their proprietary and environmentally friendly Re-20X process is used in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles.

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Northeastern Ontario refinery could accept Congo cobalt by late 2022 – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 12, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The owners of a renovated cobalt refinery in northeastern Ontario have signed a supply agreement with Glencore to receive unprocessed cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by late 2022.

Toronto’s First Cobalt announced it has signed a five-year supply contract with Glencore AG to ship material from Kamoto Copper Company, its subsidiary in the DRC, starting in the fourth quarter of 2022. Glencore has helped finance First Cobalt’s plant-reopening plans.

A second supply agreement is in the works after First Cobalt inked a memorandum of understanding with IXM S.A., a subsidiary of China Molybdenum Co. (CMOC), to source cobalt from the Tenke Fungurume Mine in the DRC. The parties are working toward reaching a definitive contract.

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