US Strategic Metals gets US$100M government loan for Missouri cobalt project

US Strategic Metals said Tuesday that its US$100.8 million loan application has been granted expedited approval by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in recognition of the potential job creation by the company’s critical minerals project.

The closely-held company is planning to mine what it considers to be the largest cobalt reserve in North America. It holds an 18-year mineral supply of cobalt (plus nickel and copper) on a 7.3-sq.-km site in Missouri, known as the Madison mine project.

The project was granted expedited approval because domestic production of critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium is squarely in the national interest of the United States, US Strategic said in a news release.

“This approval is a recognition of our plan to create jobs in Missouri. The Missouri project will secure domestic supplies of essential materials, generate high-quality jobs and boost the regional economy,” US Strategic CEO Stacy Hastie said in a news release.

The loan falls under the company’s EB-5 program application, a key part of the project financing. The EB-5 program administered by immigration service is designed to provide foreign investors with a pathway to U.S. permanent residency through job-creating economic investments in new commercial enterprises. To qualify, the investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers within two years.

First application

According to LCR Capital Partners, a private investment and advisory services firm, this approval positions US Strategic as the first critical minerals EB-5 investment opportunity.

“Investors benefit from priority processing, because the project qualifies under the rural category, and from the ability to request expedited adjudication due to the project’s designation as being in the US national interest,” LCR stated.

US Strategic said its project is poised to “significantly bolster” the America’s supply chain for critical battery metals to fuel the green energy revolution and advance U.S. economic and national security. To achieve that, it will produce cobalt sulphate, nickel sulphate and lithium carbonate from cobalt hydroxide and black mass, recycled material from spent lithium-ion batteries and battery scrap.

To date, the company has secured over US$500 million in funding and commitments for the development of its cobalt-nickel mine and the construction of a hydrometallurgical battery metals recycling facility based in Fredericktown, Missouri.

In addition, the company was earmarked by the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a loan package worth US$400 million to support the development of its Missouri-based mining and metallurgical project.