Electra Battery Materials has signed a five-year working-capital and commercial partnership term sheet with Swiss commodities trader WMC Group AG to finance cobalt feedstock purchases and market battery-grade cobalt sulfate from its Temiskaming Shores refinery in northern Ontario. The deal covers logistics management, inventory working capital and exclusive marketing of output up to the plant’s nameplate capacity as Electra restarts North America’s only cobalt sulfate refinery, backed by US and Canadian government funding. The structure is aimed at smoothing the operating cash cycle as the project moves from construction and commissioning into production.

Iron ore’s journey from a $13/t, annually negotiated benchmark in 2002 to a daily traded futures market peaking at $237.57/t in May 2021 is mapped in MINING.COM’s “Ore Wars” interactive, tracking 49 key inflection points. The timeline covers BHP’s failed $140 billion bid for Rio Tinto, the collapse to $37/t in December 2015, the Samarco and Brumadinho tailings disasters, and China’s push for yuan‑denominated pricing. For mine planners and marketers, it neatly links price shocks to supply surges, port stockpiles, freight rates and single‑buyer risk.

JPMorganChase has appointed Andrew Frame to lead critical minerals investments within its $1.5‑trillion, 10‑year Security and Resiliency Initiative, targeting extraction, refining and processing of copper, lithium, nickel, graphite, rare earths and other strategic materials. The bank has carved critical minerals out as one of 27 subcategories spanning nuclear energy, battery storage, semiconductors, robotics and advanced defence components, backed by a separate $10‑billion pool for equity and venture investments. For miners and processors, this signals potential access to large‑scale project finance, advisory support and policy advocacy on permitting and workforce constraints.