Metso Outotec has signed an agreement with the Canadian battery materials company First Cobalt Corporation to deliver Planet Positive solvent extraction technology to their cobalt refinery expansion in Ontario. The value of the order is approximately EUR 10 million, and it has been booked into Metals’ Q4/2021 orders received.
Image Credit: Metso Corporation
Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes the engineering and supply of a modular VSF®X solvent extraction plant. First Cobalt aims at producing 25,000 tonnes of traceable, high-quality, battery-grade cobalt sulfate annually. Their refinery in Ontario is currently the only permitted producer of battery-grade cobalt for the North American electric vehicle market.
“We are happy to be moving forward with Metso Outotec, an industry-leading business partner. Metso Outotec was selected based on its competitive pricing and technically superior bid. The contracted solution involves the latest advancements in solvent extraction in terms of modular design, process control, and ease of installation and start up,” explains Trent Mell, President & CEO of First Cobalt.
“We are excited to start working on this ambitious project with First Cobalt. To date, we have sold almost 50 solvent extraction plants worldwide, 11 of which represent the proven modular VSF®X technology. This will be our first VSF®X solvent extraction plant in Canada,” says Mikko Rantaharju, Vice President, Hydrometallurgy, at Metso Outotec.
Read more about our solvent extraction technologies on our website.