Hopes funding may persuade company to co-locate cobalt refinery near existing tungsten operations in Pennsylvania.

Marking a significant step in creating a domestic cobalt supply chain in the United States, Jervois Global Ltd. has entered into a non-binding explorative memorandum of understanding with Global Tungsten & Powders LLC (GTP) to advance the development of a major cobalt refinery. With Jervois already owning a cobalt mining project in Idaho and GTP operating a tungsten processing plant in Pennsylvania, this collaboration aims to bolster the production of cobalt essential for electric vehicles.

In late February, Jervois made an announcement that it had narrowed down potential sites for construction of a future domestic refining and recycling plant, one of which included Pennsylvania.

Already owning Idaho Cobalt Operations, a cobalt mine project and processing facility near Salmon, Idaho, which is fully developed but not currently in operation, the Australia-based company began talks with U.S. officials on how best to vertically integrate the Idaho cobalt mine with a refining and recycling facility that would offer a domestic supply of cobalt to lithium-ion battery manufacturers and other industrial sectors.

After spending several months looking for an ideal location, Jervois selected Pennsylvania and Louisiana as the two best states to build the refinery.

Conducting evaluations since then to determine which state offers the best engineering, environmental, and economic parameters for developing a cobalt refinery, GTP has stepped up to bat.

Founded over a century ago, Global Tungsten & Powders has been a long-time Western supplier of high-quality tungsten and tungsten carbide powders, providing tungsten for America during World War II.

Given GTP's status as an existing cobalt customer of Jervois, as part of this equity agreement, the company will be expected to provide recycling feedstock for the refinery. Additionally, Jervois' cobalt refinery could potentially be co-located at GTP's existing facilities in Towanda.

While this agreement is just tentative, it has perhaps pushed the eventual location to fall within the Keystone State.

Being supported by U.S. Department of Defense funding, as well as awaiting a response for a submission for the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan to aid in the financing, this investment, should it be approved, would further enable construction and development of one of the first cobalt refineries in the U.S.