![]() ![]() Ground excavation has commenced for a new solvent extraction facility and contracts have been awarded for the foundations and building construction. Project control budget for the larger circuit is US$67 million, which can be funded from treasury, compared to a feasibility study estimate for a smaller plant of US$60 million. The new refinery will be operational in 2022. Electra will invest in additional capacity for its crystallizer circuit, which will result in installed capacity of 6,500 tonnes of annual cobalt production. 8.Įlectra’s new strategic plan includes producing battery-grade nickel and cobalt, recycled battery materials and precursor material out of a battery materials park in Temiskaming Shores, Ont., providing North American automakers with access to a domestic source of low-carbon raw materials.Ī recent release announced plans for a 30 per cent increase in the design capacity of its cobalt refinery. The name change, to Electra Battery Materials Corporation, was unveiled Nov. has announced a name change and updated its plans for development of its refinery in northern Ontario. "I think it demonstrates that indeed there is a genuine concern among the bigger consumers that availability is going be an issue going forward," he said.TORONTO-First Cobalt Corp. While Gerbens did not foresee an immediate impact on market prices, what this potential move would do is "further strengthen the bullish sentiment that's already seen in cobalt today and has been for awhile," he predicted.Īnd it's likely we will see other major electronics manufacturers like Samsung and LG Chem follow suit, opting for longer-term contracts with major cobalt miners to secure future supply. "Everyone agrees that cobalt is likely to be in deficit in the coming years, and for a company like Apple, lithium-ion batteries are key, and therefore security of supply of the raw materials going into those batteries is crucial." "Meanwhile, security of supply has definitely been a major concern for ," Gerbens added. "It certainly does remove that element of uncertainty." Certainly, the ethical issue has been key priority for them, and it has proven quite difficult to obtain good supply-chain visibility in the case of cobalt," he said. Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicted last year that cobalt demand will increase 30-fold by 2030.Īndries Gerbens, a trader at London-based Darton Commodities, agreed. This strategy could save it " hundreds of billions of dollars over the next two to three years," Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights, told CNBC.Ĭobalt prices stand at $80,000 per metric ton, up from $20,000 in January 2016, and global demand for 2018 is estimated at more than 110,000 metric tons, according to Reuters. So it makes sense that Apple would be looking to secure supply and potentially save a lot of money, too. Transparency Market Research has estimated that by the end of 2022, the global automotive battery market will be worth more than $54.5 billion, up from $30 billion in 2015. ![]() The French and German governments last year announced bans on gasoline and diesel car sales by 2040, and China is ramping up EV production. In 2012, Unicef estimated that 40,000 children worked in mines in the DRC's south.ĭemand for, and the price of, cobalt has skyrocketed since early 2016 on projections of fast-growing demand for electric vehicles, whose lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are also dependent on the metal. In 2016, Amnesty International unveiled evidence of child labor in mines whose cobalt, through a long and complex supply chain spanning several continents, has wound up in Apple's smartphones, among several other major device makers. More than 60 percent of the world's cobalt is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Apple declined to comment on the reports, which cited unnamed sources. "It might be a supply concern, but really Apple's biggest concern over the last five years has been where are our components coming from and are they mined and produced responsibly?" Moores added. "They need to ensure that their cobalt isn't sourced from illegal mining operations, especially those using child labor." So this is significant - the reason they're doing it is supply chain visibility," Simon Moores, managing director of Benchmark Minerals, told CNBC. "Apple is a buyer of batteries, not a buyer of battery components, and it's a number of steps away from the raw materials side. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit ![]()
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