Glencore ready to supply feed to northeastern Ontario cobalt refinery: First Cobalt signs agreement to source cobalt from Sudbury, western Quebec mines.

• Position: NEWS

The owner of a mothballed northeastern Ontario cobalt refinery has signed a tentative deal with Glen-core to receive raw material from its Sudbury and Rouyn-Noranda mines.

First Cobalt announced May 21 that it has a memorandum of understanding with Glencore AG to receive unprocessed cobalt and an undisclosed amount of money through a loan--to help restart the former Yukon refinery on the outskirts of the town of Cobalt.

The Toronto-based cobalt processor and mine developer wants to position the refinery as a toll milling operation, receiving cobalt from around the world.

First Cobalt has exploration properties of its own in northeastern Ontario and in Idaho but none of them are advanced enough to provide material for the refinery. The plan is to funnel the revenue from processing back into exploration and mine development.

If the deal with Glencore goes through, the company will produce 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes of cobalt sulfate annually.

In a statement, First Cobalt president-CEO Trent Meli called Glencore an "ideal partner" to work with as the world's largest cobalt producer and one that fulfills his company's goal of securing ethically-sourced, battery-grade cobalt to supply the North American electric vehicle market.

"Our shareholders will benefit from Glencore financial...