Energy

America’s Bid To Loosen China’s Cobalt Grip Comes With A Green Card Attached

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An Arizona refinery challenging China’s cobalt dominance offers foreign investors a path to U.S. green cards while still barring Chinese nationals from participating.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved an investment offering under the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program for EVelution Energy’s proposed cobalt refinery in Yuma County, according to an Oct. 6 announcement. The approval allows the company to pursue up to $64.8 million in foreign investment to help finance a facility intended to reduce America’s reliance on Chinese cobalt processing.

“We have already raised US$1.6 million from two investors under the program, with the EB-5 investment structured as five-year subordinated debt, offering a 9% annual return to investors,” an EVelution Energy spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

China accounted for approximately 78% of global refined cobalt production in 2024, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) figures cited by Reuters. The concentration leaves American manufacturers dependent on overseas processing for a mineral used in military aircraft, aerospace components, advanced electronics and electric vehicle batteries.
The company told the DCNF that investors could come from various countries, although their geographic composition has not yet been finalized. USCIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States currently lacks commercial-scale cobalt refining infrastructure, according to EVelution Energy. Its proposed $450 million Arizona facility could eventually supply approximately 40% of projected American cobalt demand, potentially establishing a domestic alternative to Chinese processors.

Under the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, foreign nationals can pursue permanent residency for themselves, their spouses and eligible children by investing in qualifying American businesses. Investors in the Arizona project must contribute at least $800,000, although participation does not guarantee a green card.

The program has attracted substantial interest from Chinese nationals, creating a notable distinction between EVelution Energy’s immigration financing strategy and its stated national security objectives.

Chinese and Indian investors accounted for approximately 73% of EB-5 investor petitions filed during fiscal year 2025, according to Invest in the USA (IIUSA), an EB-5 industry association analyzing USCIS data.

Indian investors filed 1,977 petitions during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026, narrowly surpassing the 1,970 submitted by Chinese investors, according to IIUSA.

Despite China’s prominence in the investor visa program, EVelution Energy has prohibited Chinese nationals from financing its refinery, alongside investors from Russia, Iran and North Korea. The restrictions do not explicitly name India, another major source of EB-5 applicants.

“Because of the project’s national security importance, we have adopted a strict Non-Foreign Entity of Concern (Non-FEOC) Investor Policy that prohibits investments by nationals of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other designated countries,” an EVelution Energy spokesperson told the DCNF.

The company said prospective investors must undergo enhanced screening and that its restrictions extend to prohibited entities and intermediaries. EVelution Energy has not disclosed the nationalities of its prospective investors.

The refinery’s proposed supply chain also represents an effort to compete with Chinese companies beyond American borders.

China has long relied on cobalt extracted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Chinese-controlled companies dominate mining operations. The African nation supplies much of the world’s cobalt, giving Chinese companies significant influence over the mineral’s global supply chain.

EVelution Energy is pursuing its own arrangement to obtain cobalt from Congo without sending the material through Chinese processing facilities. The company joined commodity trader Trafigura and Congolese state-backed Entreprise Générale du Cobalt in a May agreement establishing a proposed supply framework for Congolese cobalt hydroxide destined for the Arizona refinery.

Under the proposed arrangement, the imported material would be refined in Arizona into battery-grade cobalt sulfate and alloy-grade cobalt metal for American aerospace, defense and battery manufacturers. The agreement remains subject to definitive contracts.

The company has also secured an approximately $850 million offtake agreement with Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co., which would purchase a substantial majority of the refinery’s cobalt metal production over five years. The agreement links the proposed American facility with a Japanese commercial partner as both countries seek more diversified critical minerals supply chains.

The refinery is expected to produce approximately 7,000 metric tons of contained cobalt annually, including roughly 4,000 metric tons in battery-grade cobalt sulfate and 3,000 metric tons in alloy-grade cobalt metal, according to the company’s Oct. 6 announcement.

The project’s economic impact estimates have also changed. An earlier company announcement projected approximately 3,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs associated with construction and operations, while its October announcement projected more than 6,200 jobs over the project’s lifetime. The company has not clarified the difference between the estimates.

Under federal EB-5 requirements, qualifying investments must create at least 10 full-time jobs for eligible U.S. workers per investor. However, those employees do not necessarily have to be American citizens.

Federal regulations also permit lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees and certain other qualifying immigrants authorized to work in the United States to count toward the employment requirement. The foreign investor and their immediate family members cannot count toward the job total, nor can workers in nonimmigrant visa categories.

The immigration-linked financing is one component of EVelution Energy’s broader effort to raise money for the refinery, which remains under development.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States issued a nonbinding letter of interest indicating potential financing of up to $275 million, according to an Aug. 3 company announcement. The proposed financing remains subject to federal due diligence, underwriting and final approval.

The financial commitments come as Washington seeks to reduce China’s control over minerals essential to American manufacturing and national security.

China is the dominant refiner of 19 of the 20 energy-related strategic minerals examined by the IEA, accounting for an average of approximately 70% of their processing, according to the agency’s 2025 Global Critical Minerals Outlook.

The agency also projected that China could still account for more than 60% of global refined cobalt supply in 2035, underscoring the difficulty of developing alternative processing capacity.

The Trump administration has sought to reduce America’s dependence on foreign mineral supplies, including by exploring seabed mining near American Samoa. American companies are also pursuing domestic critical mineral processing and recycling projects to challenge China’s position in the supply chain.

EVelution Energy first announced its immigration financing strategy in April 2025, working with an investment fund associated with Intermestic Capital, an Arizona firm founded by former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez, the former Mayor of Nogales, AZ and Chief-of-Staff of U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the Obama Administration.

The EB-5 program has previously faced scrutiny over its use by wealthy foreign investors, including questions about political connections to businesses involved in the investor visa industry, as documented in earlier Daily Caller reporting.

Foreign investors must separately obtain immigration approval before receiving conditional green cards, generally valid for two years. They must then petition to remove those conditions by demonstrating compliance with investment and job-creation requirements. Approval of the company’s investment offering does not guarantee individual investors will receive permanent residency.

Construction of the cobalt refinery is expected to begin in 2027, with commercial operations targeted for 2029, according to EVelution Energy’s Oct. 6 announcement. Construction of the project’s solar power facility began earlier in 2026.

“We believe this innovative combination of immigration-linked investment and tax-advantaged U.S. equity can provide a replicable financing model for accelerating strategically important American critical-minerals projects,” an EVelution Energy spokesperson told the DCNF.