(Kitco News) - The operation Electra Battery Materials is advancing "by and large don't exist outside of China,", said CEO Trent Mell who hopes to make his company a first mover within the EV space.
On Wednesday Mell spoke to Kitco.
In Ontario Electra (NASDAQ:ELBM) is restarting a refinery named Battery Metals Park. The operation is 350 miles (600 kilometres) from the U.S. border. Commissioning of the operation is expected by spring 2023. Initial production is set at 5,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade cobalt contained with material supplied from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The operations will also be able to process recycled material.
"The final products that we need for the EV revolution are different from what we [refine] traditionally," said Mell. "You've got smelters in Canada and also around the world that are producing alloy products, whether it be nickel or cobalt. What we're talking about in a battery is what we call a salt. It's a powdered form. Those facilities don't exist by and large outside of China, and so our role as the first mover in North America is to be the first refiner of battery grade cobalt."
Mell said the operation will eventually process other meals, such as nickel and manganese, too.
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