Electra, Positive ink deal to energize battery industry

Electra Battery Materials and Positive Materials signed a supply chain cooperation agreement to support the growth of North America's lithium-ion battery and energy storage industries. The partnership aimed to strengthen the resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness of North America's critical minerals supply chain.

This partnership marked a significant step towards creating a fully integrated domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain in North America, emphasizing the local processing of critical minerals.

Electra, engaged in preliminary discussions with multiple parties, sought to broaden its customer base beyond its existing offtake agreement with LG Energy Solution. The agreement with Positive targeted a North American commercial and technical relationship for Electra's cobalt sulfate production.

"Electra is constructing North America's first battery-grade cobalt sulfate refinery, and this agreement represents another component of building a fully localized and environmentally responsible supply chain. Partnering with Positive allows us to explore processing synergies and jointly support customers seeking secure, transparent sourcing," Trent Mell, Electra's CEO, commented on the partnership.

"The "pCAM-as-a-service" toll processing business model for Project Positive+ is perfectly aligned with downstream customer preference to secure high provenance, sustainable critical mineral feedstocks, with our agreement with Electra supporting local procurement opportunities," Marco Romero, Positive's CEO, added. "This partnership with Electra brings the Canadian lithium-ion battery supply chain one step closer to a fully integrated domestic industry, capturing the entire mine-to-market value."

The companies planned to evaluate opportunities to integrate Electra's battery-grade cobalt sulfate with Positive's planned North American pCAM operations in Belledune, New Brunswick. Their collaboration focused on aligning product specifications and supporting downstream processing pathways to meet the evolving needs of North American and European customers.

For more information, please visit www.ElectraBMC.com and www.PosMat.ca.