US-based Missouri Cobalt is in the final stages of building a hydrometallurgical facility, which will allow the company to begin producing battery-grade cobalt and nickel.

Missouri Cobalt says in a statement that the hydrometallurgical facility forms part of its objective of becoming a leading North American supplier of battery-grade cobalt and nickel, and that it will be the only company to process in the US.

The firm, which operates the Madison mine, in Missouri, believes its goal can be realised over the next two years, as the new facility will quadruple current run-rate production volumes.

Missouri Cobalt previously demonstrated its ability to consistently produce high-grade cobalt using its pilot hydrometallurgical facility in Earth City, which has been operational since 2020. It has been producing a cobalt/nickel/ concentrate at its Fredericktown facility since 2019. 

Having completed an extensive drilling programme that confirmed geological upside and expanded exploration potential, the company has enlisted international and local experts for the development of its underground mine.

Existing tailings and underground deposits are expected to yield total run-rate production of at least five-million pounds a year of cobalt, six-million pounds a year of nickel and 22-million pounds a year of copper by 2023.  

"The successful commissioning and operation of our on-site concentrator and hydrometallurgical pilot plant provided the start-to-finish proof of concept required to advance the next phases of our strategic plan," says CEO Stacy Hastie.

"Our short-term focus now is on scaling our proprietary, environmentally-friendly processing technology to produce battery-grade cobalt, nickel and copper at an industrial scale in order to position ourselves as the leading battery minerals producer in North America."  

Additionally, the company intends to leverage its proven hydrometallurgical technology and is projecting robust near-term topline growth by capitalising on the significant upside of its own resource base, as well as scaling production volumes by expanding into battery recycling and processing of third-party material beyond the expected 2023 run-rate.  

"In order to truly maximize the environmental and societal benefits of green energy, the world's leading battery manufacturers will continue to turn to reliable, traceable, and ethically-sourced cobalt. As the only vertically integrated cobalt producer in North America, Missouri Cobalt is positioned to play a crucial role in the advancement of the battery revolution over the coming years,” says former Glencore chairperson and CEO Willy Strothotte, who is a current member of Missouri Cobalt's board of directors.

Goldman Sachs has been retained to assist with evaluating various strategic and financing alternatives in order to accelerate the company's strategic plan.

The Madison mine holds an estimated 72-million pounds of recoverable cobalt.