Electra Battery Materials has received a non-binding Letter of Intent from the Government of Canada for up to $20 million in potential funding to help complete North America’s first battery-grade cobalt refinery in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario. The facility is expected to support production for up to one million electric vehicles annually.
Designed to have the lowest carbon footprint of its kind, the refinery would produce 6,500 tonnes of cobalt per year. LG Energy Solution has agreed to purchase up to 80% of future output, with overall demand exceeding capacity.
Electra has most infrastructure and equipment in place and is in advanced talks with the government. However, the LOI does not guarantee final funding.
Government officials emphasized the project’s role in boosting Canada’s critical minerals sector and reducing reliance on Chinese cobalt, which accounts for about 90% of global refining.
Electra also plans to expand into battery recycling and other critical material production, with feasibility work underway for a recycling facility next to the refinery, and possible future plants in Quebec and elsewhere.
