SALMON, Idaho (KIFI) – A $100 million federal grant to Salmon-based Jervois for a cobalt refinery could help restart the nation’s largest cobalt mine.
“The mine in Salmon is not operable right now. It’s not operating because it’s not economic at the moment,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson told Local News 8 on Monday. “Again, reshoring that refining capacity and that supply chain here in the United States will make opportunities for economic mining come back to America.”
The mine shut down in 2023 due to a flooded supply of cobalt on the global market.
But the promise of a refinery on American soil could eventually reopen the mine’s operations with its 300 jobs.
“The U.S. does not have a cobalt refinery, and Jervois is working to build one here in the United States,” said Jervois USA President Matthew Lengerich. “… We’re ultimately working towards a pathway that brings that mine into production. This refinery, by now having a refinery in the United States, will certainly help in that.”
The refinery will likely be constructed at an industrial site in Pennsylvania or Louisiana, Lengerich said, and will employ 100 full-time, highly-paid employees.
The project is part of the Trump Administration’s initiative to bring mining and manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
“We have been in a 30-year period of deindustrialization, 30 years of shutting down mines and shutting down factories,” Robertson said. “It’s been 30 years plus of learning how to not make things in this country.”
The grant will cover 40 percent of the estimated $250 million required to build a refinery.
“We’re really appreciative and excited about the DOE’s support,” Lengerich said. “It’ll make a massive difference in our ability to bring this project into construction and ultimately into operations.”
A little bit of cobalt goes a long way. The mineral is an essential ingredient in jet engines, cell phones, artificial knees, paint, missiles and much more.
“It is so important across semiconductors, across all different types of electronic equipment,” Robertson explained.
Lengerich readily agreed, adding, “It’s such a great move forward for the U.S. in terms of securing critical minerals to be able to have a refinery that we haven’t seen in over a generation, and to be producing cobalt, which is critical for the national defense, for military supplies, for batteries.”
Ultimately, the refinery is about securing America’s cobalt supply chain and onshoring jobs back into America’s manufacturing sector.
“If we don’t have the ability to manufacture things in this country, we will be a slave to other nations that do,” Robertson asserted. “That is not the American way. That is not the America we grew up in.”
She assured that the cobalt refinery will meet America’s clean air and environmental regulations.
“People see today big industry and building – whether it’s processing plants or manufacturing facilities – as a negative for their communities. Those are not negatives,” Robertson said. “Those are absolute strategic positives for both communities and America.”
