Electra Refinery Construction Remains on Budget as Workforce Doubles

Electra Battery Materials Corporation (ELBM) reports that construction of its cobalt sulfate refinery in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, is tracking within its US$73 million budget. The site workforce has more than doubled to 130 people, up from approximately 60 at the August update, as project activities have shifted from foundations and steel erection to equipment installation, building enclosure, and electrical and instrumentation work across all process areas, including the existing refinery, solvent extraction, crystallizer, product silo, and tailings facilities.

Schedule pressure has emerged regarding the projected timing for the fabrication and installation of FRP process piping in the solvent extraction area. Following the recent award to FRP Systems Ltd., Electra is evaluating measures to accelerate this work and expects any required schedule adjustment to be modest. Contractors are engaged across specific areas: WB Melback for solvent extraction, Pro Pipe and Dalcon for the crystallizer, Kilmarnock for the existing refinery, MECC for electrical work, Pedersen for tailings, and FRP Systems for FRP piping.

Commercial commitments remain in place, with Glencore securing 100% of the cobalt hydroxide feed for commissioning and ramp-up through 2027 and supply through 2031. LG Energy Solution holds approximately 60% of planned production through 2029, while a term sheet with WMC contemplates a five-year working-capital and commercial partnership involving a committed but not yet definitive investment.

On the operational front, General Manager and Commissioning Leader Garzon Duenas is developing the commissioning plan, with Metso engaged for site advisory services. Lab method development for battery-grade cobalt sulfate is complete, and Rockwell controls and instrument validation are underway. The facility is designed to process approximately 18,000 tonnes per year of cobalt hydroxide feed into 5,120 tonnes per year of contained cobalt initially.

The release does not alter the budget, the milestone schedule of select commissioning in Q4 2026, mechanical completion in Q2 2027, and commercial production in Q4 2027, or the commercial framework.

Electra Battery Materials Corporation (ELBM) has reaffirmed its US$73 million budget, a figure that has remained consistent in every update since February 2026. This confirmation represents a continuation of previous guidance rather than a revision.

The company reported that FRP piping fabrication and installation timing presents a new schedule consideration, marking the first explicit flag since construction restarted. Management described the impact as "modest," noting that "any schedule adjustment, if required" may be necessary. FRP lamination of process equipment has only commenced, and the FRP piping contract was awarded recently, which is late relative to the overall build timeline.

Workforce numbers have doubled, indicating increased field activity. This expansion implies a materially higher cash-burn rate through the construction phase. The company faces a going-concern backdrop and approximately US$15 million in commissioning and ramp-up spending, which management states it will cover from liquidity and working-capital facilities.

Commercial relationships with Glencore, LGES, and WMC are restatements of previously announced items. The WMC investment remains non-binding and is conditioned on definitive documentation, due diligence, and regulatory and creditor approvals.

Construction progress includes the installation of crystallizer mechanical equipment, the erection of a silo, nearly complete cable trays, and tailings work that is approximately 40% complete. These developments do not resolve the company’s going-concern disclosure or the Nasdaq minimum-bid-price problem.

Electra Battery Materials Corporation operates as a critical-minerals processing company, with its flagship asset being a brownfield cobalt sulfate refinery located in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario. The facility is positioned as North America's first battery-grade cobalt sulfate refinery. Currently in construction and fully permitted, the company is targeting select commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2026, mechanical completion in the second quarter of 2027, and commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The refinery is designed to process approximately 18,000 tonnes per year of cobalt hydroxide feed to produce 5,120 tonnes per year of contained cobalt initially. The crystallizer nameplate capacity reaches up to 6,500 tonnes per year, providing a path for a roughly 27% expansion targeted for 2028–2029.

Electra Battery Materials also holds secondary assets including the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project and a land package in Idaho's Cobalt Belt, which had a 2023 indicated resource of 4.45 million tonnes at 0.19% cobalt and 0.73% copper. The company is involved in black-mass battery recycling and has an early-stage nickel sulfate refinery concept in the U.S. southeast, for which a Front-End Loading 1 (FEL-1) was completed in September 2026.