The US Defense Department said separately that the award will help develop North American production of a key material for large capacity batteries and, once completed, will benefit the region’s growing EV supply chain.
The funding is the latest in a series of investments the Pentagon has put toward North American mining companies as part of a push to secure metals needed for EV manufacturing and the transition away from fossil fuels.
Prices for cobalt, the majority of which is processed in China, have plunged from a peak about two years ago in part because of Chinese firms that ramped up production faster than traders anticipated. Toronto-based Electra, which has a market value of about $28 million, paused construction of the project last year due to low prices, and after revealing the plant would cost much more than previously anticipated.
“We’re not in a free market, with China subsidizing producers and overproducing,”…
