First Cobalt hires commodities industry executive to market its refined cobalt production to EV and battery manufacturers

First Cobalt Corp (CVE:FCC) (OTCQX:FTSSF) (FRA:18P) has appointed experienced commodities industry executive Michael Insulan as vice-president of commercial to market the group’s refined cobalt sulfate production to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and battery makers.

“With the commissioning of our Canadian cobalt sulfate refinery expected in October 2022, recruiting Michael to join our team is another executed step in our strategic plan,” said Trent Mell, First Cobalt’s CEO, in a statement.

“His experience and global network of contacts in the battery materials space will be invaluable to marketing what we expect will be the world’s most sustainably sourced cobalt.”

READ: First Cobalt strikes exclusivity deal with lender over US$45M debt financing for refinery plans

Insulan, who will be based in Europe, will also be responsible for marketing the company’s recycled cobalt, nickel, lithium and other battery materials in the future under a planned second phase expansion at the facility to refine black mass recovered from spent lithium-ion batteries.

The firm’s formerly operating cobalt refinery sits north of Toronto and could produce over 25,000 tonnes of cobalt sulfate per year from third-party feed.

On March 30 this year, the group announced it had struck an exclusivity agreement with a leading financial institution for US$45 million in debt financing to go towards recommissioning and expansion of the refinery.

That came a day after it said it had agreed a flexible, long-term, offtake deal with London-based Stratton Metal Resources Ltd over the sale of up to 100% of annual cobalt sulfate production.

First Cobalt is also currently in discussions with several EV manufacturers and other battery supply chain participants to provide material.

Insulan has nearly 20 years’ experience across oil and gas, bulk commodities, base and minor metals but over the past four has mainly been focused on cobalt. He has worked for Royal Dutch Shell, CRU, and Eurasian Resources Group.

He said: “In a market dominated by China, a North American battery materials plant with top ESG credentials and the capacity to supply the growing battery cell and electric vehicle industries in North America and Europe is an opportunity that cannot be missed.”

In 2020, Europe overtook China as the largest EV market, while in the USA, President Biden’s administration has proposed a US$174 billion stimulus plan to promote EV adoption and strengthen domestic lithium-ion battery supply chains in the United States, First Cobalt noted.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors