Mitsui signs $850 million cobalt deal for Yuma plant
A binding five-year Mitsui deal could lock in most of EVelution’s Yuma cobalt output, bringing the Tacna plant closer to financing and construction.
A binding $850 million supply agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. has pushed EVelution Energy’s planned cobalt plant in Tacna much closer to becoming a real industrial project for Yuma County. By securing a buyer for a substantial majority of its output, the deal gives the company a stronger path to financing, construction scheduling and hiring on the 138-acre site near Avenue 47½ E and Old Highway 80.
The five-year offtake agreement, announced April 28, calls for Mitsui to receive up to 3,000 metric tons of contained cobalt a year from the Yuma County facility. EVelution says the plant is designed to become the first commercial-scale cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate processing facility in the United States, with eventual annual capacity of about 7,000 metric tons. That matters because cobalt is a critical input not just for electric-vehicle batteries but also for jet engine superalloys, satellites, permanent magnets and microchips.
For Yuma County, the deal materially de-risks the project because it links a future factory to a defined customer and a stated revenue stream. That does not put a shovel in the ground by itself, but it strengthens the case for lenders, suppliers and contractors that the plant can move from permitting to construction and then to production. EVelution now says construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and finish by the end of 2029, a longer runway than some earlier targets.
The local payoff could be significant if the project stays on track. Earlier company projections put construction-related employment at more than 1,200 jobs and permanent employment at about 60 positions. EVelution has also said the project could generate more than 3,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs and deliver over $750 million in local economic impact. The company has said it plans apprenticeship and technical training programs with Arizona Western College, which would help build a labor pipeline for welding, electrical work, operations and maintenance jobs tied to the plant.
EVelution has described the facility as solar-powered, carbon-neutral and designed to recycle about 70% of its process water. The site sits in a Qualified Opportunity Zone, which can help attract investment, and the project has also been linked to $64.8 million in secured subordinated debt through Intermestic EB5 Fund II. Local approvals for cobalt processing and solar permits were already in place, making the Mitsui agreement one of the clearest signals yet that the Yuma project is moving from concept to industrial reality.
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