Jervois has completed its merger with eCobalt after receiving eCobalt’s nod from its Canadian shareholders and Supreme Court of British Columbia approvals. According to a joint announcement, following the successful completion of the Arrangement, all conditions precedent have been met and settlement of the A$16.5 million equity placement in Jervois has occurred.
The expanded company has projects in Australia, East Africa, and the US, including eCobalt’s Idaho Cobalt project, which boasts the highest combination of cobalt grade and scale in North America.
The acquisition of M2 Cobalt gave Jervois an entry into Uganda, complementing its East African strategy looking at opportunities around the historic Kilembe mine and Kasese cobalt refinery.
Idaho Cobalt Project has been renamed Idaho Cobalt Operations (“ICO”) to reflect its advanced stage of development and Jervois’s intention to transform the site into a mining operation. The site has had an estimated US$100 million invested to date in plant and infrastructure. Together with the completion of the environmental permitting process, this provides Jervois with a strong platform to complete construction.
Jervois is sufficiently well capitalized to advance both the ICO, its exploration activities in Uganda, and continuing negotiations with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania over the Kilembe cobalt-copper mine-Kasese Cobalt Refinery and the Kabanga nickel-cobalt-copper deposit respectively.
“Cobalt is a strategically important metal for the United States and its allies. Jervois is excited to lead construction of the only domestic cobalt mine supply in the United States, a significant and important development for the security and surety of future metal supply,” the statement read.
As part of the transaction, Jervois extended a US$3 million bridge loan to M2, of which US$1.8 million is currently drawn. The loan supports the current field exploration at M2’s Bujagali project in south-central Uganda and the Kilembe project in the west of the country.
According to Jervois, Uganda has similar geological trends to its neighbor Democratic Republic of Congo, but with greater political and regulatory stability.
