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  U.S. critical minerals processing company EVelution Energy will supply Japanese conglomerate Mitsui with most of the product from its planned cobalt processing facility in Arizona (EVelution Energy). 
 
What’s going on: California-based EVelution announced Monday it had signed a letter of intent with Mitsui to provide “the Japanese metal trader with substantially all of the cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate production” from its upcoming plant in Yuma, Arizona.  

• The facility—which is slated to begin construction at the end of 2025 and be up and running in 2027—“is expected to be able to domestically produce up to 40% of estimated U.S. cobalt demand, thereby substantially domesticating and de-risking America’s cobalt supply chain” once fully operational.   

Why it’s important: The U.S. has no commercial-scale cobalt refineries, and the mineral is one of the Energy Department’s “electric 18” materials necessary to secure America’s energy dominance.  

• In addition to electric vehicles, the metal is critical in defense technologies and smart phones, among numerous other applications. 
• In 2023, China produced the majority—78%—of the world’s refined cobalt. 

The details: Under the LOI, EVelution will supply “at least 19,000 metric tons of EV battery-grade cobalt sulfate per year and … at least 3,000 metric tons of alloy-grade cobalt metal per year” for the long term.  
 
The impact: The Arizona plant, which will generate its own solar power and deliver the surplus electricity to local farmers, is expected to generate more than $750 million in economic activity and create more than 3,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs during the project’s life.   

• EVelution will also develop joint apprenticeship/training programs to train its local workforce at Arizona Western College’s Wellton Learning Center campus in Wellton, Arizona.  

Our take: “This development is a win for both EVelution Energy and manufacturers,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen. “It is vital to U.S. energy dominance and manufacturing competitiveness that we bring critical mineral supply chains back to the U.S.

• “It’s also an excellent example of why we must reform our lengthy and broken permitting process, something the U.S. administration has begun to do.”