Electra Signs Agreement with North American pCAM Company

Electra Battery Materials Corporation announced on November 25, 2025, that it has signed a Supply Chain Cooperation Agreement with Positive Materials Inc., a North American pCAM (precursor Cathode Active Material) company. The agreement aims to establish a commercial and technical relationship focusing on Electra's cobalt sulfate production. This includes evaluating integration opportunities with Positive Materials' planned pCAM operations in Belledune, New Brunswick, and aligning product specifications to support downstream processing pathways. Both CEOs emphasized the agreement's role in building a localized, environmentally responsible, and fully integrated Canadian lithium-ion battery supply chain.

This news is a positive, albeit routine, development for Electra Battery Materials Corporation. It signifies progress in securing future demand for its cobalt sulfate product, which is critical as the company advances its refinery towards commissioning.

Positive Impacts: - Future Offtake and Market De-risking: While not a binding offtake agreement, this cooperation agreement is a necessary precursor to securing commercial contracts for Electra's finished cobalt sulfate. Partnering with a pCAM company like Positive Materials helps to establish a North American market for Electra's product, reducing reliance on external markets and contributing to demand certainty. - Supply Chain Integration: The agreement aligns with Electra's broader strategic goal of building a resilient, localized, and environmentally responsible North American battery materials supply chain. The evaluation of integration opportunities and aligning product specifications suggests a proactive approach to optimize the flow of materials from refining to pCAM production. - Reinforces Strategic Vision: This step demonstrates that Electra is actively working to operationalize its vision of being a key domestic supplier of critical battery materials, leveraging its refinery once it comes online.

Neutral/Routine Aspects: - Non-binding Nature: The agreement is explicitly a "Supply Chain Cooperation Agreement," not a definitive supply or offtake contract. This means there are no firm commercial commitments regarding volumes or pricing yet. The "evaluating integration opportunities" phrasing indicates that a concrete commercial relationship is still in its early stages. - Expected Progression: Following the successful financing and restart of construction at the refinery (announced on October 22 and November 5, 2025, respectively), establishing such partnerships is a logical and expected next step. It does not represent a sudden, unexpected material change to the company's financial standing or project timeline.

In the context of the recent "Material - Game Changer (Positive)" announcement on October 22, 2025, regarding the full funding and debt restructuring of the refinery, and the "Material - Positive" news of construction restart on November 5, 2025, this agreement is an important but incremental step. It helps to secure the demand side of the business but does not fundamentally alter the company's immediate financial or operational trajectory as much as those prior events.

Electra Battery Materials Corporation (ELBM) is a Canada-based company focused on building a North American battery materials supply chain. Its primary objective is to become a key processor and supplier of battery-grade critical minerals for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Flagship Projects: 1. Cobalt Sulfate Refinery (Ontario, Canada): This is Electra's flagship project and core asset. It is North America's only facility designed to produce battery-grade cobalt sulfate at scale. The refinery is a brownfield expansion, benefiting from existing permits, infrastructure, and major equipment already on site. It aims for an initial production capacity of 5,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of cobalt contained in cobalt sulfate, with a target of 6,500 tpa (supporting up to one million EVs annually). The company has secured US$82 million in project financing and debt restructuring to complete its construction, with commissioning targeted for 2027. It has an offtake agreement with LG Energy Solution for up to 80% of its output. 2. Black Mass Recycling Program (Ontario, Canada): Adjacent to its cobalt refinery, Electra is developing a battery recycling refinery. It successfully operated a year-long plant-scale recycling program in 2023, recovering lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, and graphite from black mass. A feasibility-level engineering study for a modular battery recycling facility was completed in June 2025. Electra has a joint venture, Aki Battery Recycling (with Three Fires Group), to source and pretreat battery scrap to produce black mass for refining. This project is supported by a C$5 million grant from Natural Resources Canada. 3. Iron Creek Cobalt-Copper Project (Idaho, USA): This is a partially developed underground project located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt, recognized as the largest undeveloped primary cobalt resource in the US. Electra is advancing mineral deposit modeling and feedstock integration here, conducting bench-scale testing of cobalt feedstocks from this and other North American sources. The project also shows high-grade gold values, adding potential strategic value. A 10-year exploration permit was secured in late 2024, with drilling planned for Spring 2026. The Iron Creek mineral properties are pledged as security for the Convertible Notes, to be released upon successful commissioning of the refinery.