Voisey’s Bay, Canada / Cobalt
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Voisey’s Bay is located in the Province of Labrador and Newfoundland, Canada, and operated by Vale Canada, a subsidiary of Vale S.A., one of the world’s largest mining companies.
Producing
Cobalt
Vale
Canada
22.82% stream
Royalty rate and type
22.82% stream
Balance sheet classification
Metal stream
Key facts
560 tonnes
Ecora’s expected volume of attributable cobalt when the mine reaches steady state production (H2 2026)
2039
Projected mine life with potential for further mine life extension
Ecora acquired a 70% net interest in a cobalt stream over the Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada owned and operated by Vale. The Company is entitled to receive 22.82% of all cobalt production from Voisey’s Bay up until 7.6kt of finished cobalt have been delivered, and 11.41% entitlement thereafter. Ecora will make ongoing payments equal to 18% of an industry cobalt reference price for each pound of cobalt delivered under the cobalt stream, until it has recovered the $300m original upfront amount paid for the stream (through accumulating credit from 82% of the cobalt reference price) through cobalt deliveries; thereafter, the ongoing payments will increase to 22% of the cobalt reference price.
Cobalt is a key commodity in the production of lithium ion batteries. Voisey’s Bay is one of the largest sources of cobalt outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is an established world-class, low cost operation and one of the lowest CO2 emitters per unit of nickel produced.
- The Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion Project was completed in December 2024.
- The Group received a total of 210 tonnes of cobalt during 2024 (2023: 154 tonnes) which generated $6.2m of net portfolio contribution (2023: $5.6m).
- The volume of cobalt delivered increased throughout the year as the mine ramped up, with 98 tonnes delivered in Q4 vs 24 tonnes in Q1.
- Average realised sales price of cobalt was $13.34/lb, a 9% premium to the annual average Fastmarkets standard grade price.
- The mine will continue to ramp up throughout 2025 and is expected to reach steady state production levels in H2 2026.
- In 2025, the Group expects to receive between 335 tonnes and 390 tonnes of attributable cobalt.
- At steady state the Group expects to receive an average of around 560 tonnes of attributable cobalt per annum.
The Voisey’s Bay cobalt stream is classified as a metal stream asset on the balance sheet. As such, this asset is carried at cost, less depletion andimpairm ents. Metal stream assets are depleted once commercial production commences on a unit-of-production basis over the total expected deliveries to be received. With cobalt prices at year-end approaching 50 year lows (in real terms) the Group impaired the value of the Voisey’s Bay stream by US$15.1m and the associated deferred tax asset by US$9.8m.