The Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), a Luxembourg-based mining and raw materials supplier with operations in Kazakhstan, Brazil and Central Africa, announced October 11 that it had signed a five-year deal from 2026 to sell cobalt to the U.S.-based electric vehicle battery producer EVelution Energy.

Investment in the U.S. electric vehicle battery supply chain has soared under the Biden administration following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August of 2022. This piece of legislation has provided billions of dollars in green energy tax credits for companies that are able to cut down on their carbon emissions.

ERG said that it will sell 3,000 metric tons of contained cobalt metal to EVelution annually, according to Reuters. EVelution will use these materials to start building a low-carbon cobalt sulfate plant in Arizona in 2024. That plant will be up and running by 2026 and will be powered by solar panels.

"Currently, there are no cobalt processing facilities, on a commercial scale, in the U.S., over 70% of the global production of cobalt sulfate is based in China," ERG said.

ERG’s cobalt hydroxide, which can be turned into sulfate materials used in the cathodes of rechargeable car batteries, will be supplied by Metalkol, ERG’s operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.