Feds spending $250,000 to study Northern Ontario battery materials park

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Ontario Construction News staff writer

Electra Battery Materials Corporation will receive $250,000 from the Government of Canada in support of a battery materials park study recently announced as a partnership with the Government of Ontario, Glencore plc and Talon Metals.

Funding from all sources tops $950,000. The study will be completed in phases during the second and third quarter of 2022 and will be expanded to encompass additional ESG studies as well as further engineering and cost studies associated with the construction of a nickel sulfate plant and a battery precursor cathode active materials plant adjacent to Electra’s cobalt refinery and recycling plant.

The culmination of this work would result in the creation of North America’s first integrated, localized and environmentally sustainable battery materials park.

“We are pleased that the Government of Canada supports our vision of an integrated battery materials park, bringing together chemical refining, battery recycling and cathode precursor production as a means of establishing a world class battery supply chain with an ultra low carbon footprint,” said Electra CEO Trent Mills.

“We are grateful for their support with this collaborative five-party consortium working to build out the missing pieces of the North American battery supply chain.”

Electra is building North America’s only fully integrated, localized and environmentally sustainable battery materials park. Leveraging the Company’s own mining assets and business partners, the Electra Battery Materials Park will host cobalt and nickel sulfate production plants, a large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility, and battery precursor materials production, which will serve both North American and global customers.

The study will:

  • facilitate construction of North America’s first battery grade nickel sulfate facility, prioritizing domestic, low carbon raw materials.
  • Glencore is one of the world’s largest nickel producers and Electra’s refinery is located two hours from the Sudbury Basin, one of the world’s largest sources of low carbon nickel. Talon Metals is developing the high-grade Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in central Minnesota under a joint venture with Rio Tinto
  • target construction of much-needed North American precursor manufacturing capacity, which would yield significant cost and carbon footprint advantages through integration with refining operations.
  • Electra is in discussion with several PCAM manufacturers and intends to partner with an established producer for this last piece of an integrated and domestic battery materials park

Battery materials produced at the site are anticipated to have an exceptionally low carbon footprint, due to reliance on renewable hydroelectric power and proximity to feed materials and end markets

“As North America’s only producer of cobalt sulfate, Electra Battery Materials Corporation would enable Canada to enter the ecosystem of electrification, attracting further investments in the changing auto industry supply chain,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry.

“The cobalt sulfate produced at the facility would help with Canada’s carbon dioxide reduction strategy and support the development of 645,000 electric vehicles annually.”

Once complete, the Battery Materials Park would encompass cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, cathode precursor materials production, as well as lithium-ion battery recycling operations.

“With one of the largest concentration of mining and related businesses in Canada, Northern Ontario’s mining industry is a key economic driver that fuels social and economic growth, while creating jobs and opportunities for families throughout the region,”  said Nippising MP Anthony Rota.

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