Last year, a more than month-long strike at Escondida ended with workers opting to extend their previous contract through July 31 of this year instead of replacing it.
The world’s biggest producer of cobalt has agreed to sell around a third of its cobalt production over the next three years to the Chinese battery recycler.
The blended company will have projects in Ontario and Idaho which, once in operations, could be major cobalt suppliers for EVs makers and high tech firms.