Toronto-headquartered cobalt company First Cobalt has upsized its previously announced nonbrokered private placement to accommodate demand.
The offering increased from 10 715 000 units at C$0.14 a share, for gross proceeds of up to C$1.5-million, to 14 300 000 units at the same price, for C$2-million in proceeds.
The offering is expected to close on February 5, First Cobalt said in a statement on Friday. The company’s stock jumped 7% to C$0.15 a share.
Glencore-backed First Cobalt owns North America's only permitted cobalt refinery, which the company aims to restart this year. It has secured agreements under which Glencore would supply cobalt feedstock to the plant, with initial production targeted of about 2 000 t/y to 2 500 t/y.
Cobalt refining is a critical component to the development and manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s largest producer of cobalt, last week moved to monopolise about 255 of all cobalt exports.