Construction progresses on Electra solvent plant
Construction is progressing well at the Electra Battery Materials Corporation cobalt refinery in Temiskaming Shores.
The company provided an update on works at the site on March 22, saying that foundation work on the solvent extraction plant is underway, and on target for commissioning in December. Earthworks for the building were completed last year, and the pre-engineered building itself is expected to be completed by the end of April.
The refinery's existing mechanical and electrical and instrumentation equipment have tested well with few upgrades required. New equipment will start arriving at the site between April and June to install for a cobalt crystallizer circuit to be used produce 6,500 tonnes annually of refined cobalt.
The value of work on the plant building is about $84 million, but the broader construction plan for the site, which includes four phases of work, is valued at closer to $500 million.
“Our team has been focused on both the recommissioning of our existing refinery equipment and preparing the site for the construction of the new solvent extraction and crystallizer plant facilities,” said Mark Trevisiol, Vice President, Project Development. “These are important milestones and a credit to our project owner’s team and our consultants who continue to demonstrate a disciplined commitment to executing this project. With no lost-time incidents at site, we continue to stress our values on health and safety, which speaks to the commitment of our team to delivering the project with zero lost time incidents in parallel with being on time and on budget.”
Electra acquired the former Yukon refinery property in 2017. It plans to build a fully integrated battery materials park that will hosting cobalt and nickel sulfate production plants, a large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility, and a battery precursor materials partnership, which will support North American and European electric vehicle production. Once fully operational, the plant should be able to produce battery materials for up to 1.5 million electric vehicles annually.
“Canada is becoming a key player in the midstream of the North American electric vehicle supply chain,” said Trent Mell, CEO. “Recent investment decisions by some of the largest players in the EV industry continue to validate our early-mover strategy. While our team continues to deliver on the recommissioning of the refinery, we are aggressively pursuing commercial partnerships and growth opportunities to deliver value to shareholders.”
Electra added in a news release that supply chain issues relating to the resurgence of COVID in China and the Russian war in the Ukraine have so far not affected construction. The company made a strategic decision early in the procurement process to order long-lead-time items from jurisdictions that are less likely to experience supply-chain interruptions.
The delivery of major equipment to the refinery is largely on schedule, and the recent surge in commodity prices is not forecasted to impact total capital costs.