US military announces $20m grant to build cobalt refinery in Canada

The US military has made its largest investment in Canada's mining sector in decades, spending millions amid a looming battle among nations to control the supply of cobalt. On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced a $20m grant to help build a cobalt refinery in the province of Ontario, saying the investment will "create a more robust industrial base capable of meeting growing demand across both the defense and commercial sectors". In recent years, cobalt has emerged as a "key precursor material" in the race to build the batteries that power electric vehicles, electronics and military hardware batteries. With China controlling nearly…