The provincial government is putting $250,000 toward a battery-materials park near Cobalt, Ont., run by Electra Battery Materials, aiming for two production lines to supply over 1.5 million EV batteries and employ up to 250 people. (The Logic)

Talking point: The company, formerly called First Cobalt, has long hoped the rise of EVs would support its efforts to revitalize a “ghost-town” site that’s considered the “birthplace of Canadian hard-rock mining.” Critical minerals have recently become a major government talking point in an industry that sometimes lacks long-term financial backers, and the company has been lobbying the federal government as it transitions to a business model that includes refining battery-grade cobalt and nickel sulfate. The project takes aim at holes in the EV supply chain: mining cobalt is so problematic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been looking for alternatives, and Canada’s existing nickel industry mostly focuses on the type used for stainless steel.