Investors Offered Path to U.S. Green Cards through Arizona Cobalt Refinery

A refinery in Arizona is making strides to challenge China’s stronghold on cobalt production, and it’s offering a unique opportunity for foreign investors to obtain U.S. green cards—though, interestingly, it excludes Chinese nationals from this opportunity.

Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted approval for EVelution Energy’s cobalt refinery project in Yuma County under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This allows the company to seek up to $64.8 million in foreign investment to help fund a facility aimed at decreasing America’s dependency on Chinese cobalt processing.

“We’ve raised about $1.6 million from two investors so far via this program, with the funding structured as five-year subordinated debt, offering a 9% annual return,” an EVelution Energy representative shared. It’s pretty interesting how they’re approaching this, especially given the geopolitical context.

According to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA), China was responsible for about 78% of global refined cobalt production in 2024. This heavy reliance on a single country for a critical mineral—used in sectors like military aircraft and electric vehicle batteries—has raised concerns among U.S. manufacturers.

The company indicated that investors could come from various regions, but the exact breakdown hasn’t been established yet, and USCIS didn’t reply to requests for further comments on this matter.

EVelution Energy pointed out that there’s currently no large-scale cobalt refining capability in the U.S., and their proposed Arizona facility, at a projected cost of $450 million, could meet around 40% of the expected U.S. cobalt demand—essentially, establishing a domestic alternative to China.

Under the EB-5 program, foreign nationals can seek permanent residency by investing in qualifying U.S. businesses, which means investors in this project would need to contribute a minimum of $800,000—though it doesn’t guarantee a green card.

This initiative has attracted a lot of interest from investors, particularly Chinese nationals in the past, but EVelution Energy’s approach draws a clear line by prohibiting investments from Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and North Korean nationals. Interestingly, they haven’t explicitly mentioned a restriction on Indian investors, who are also significant participants in the EB-5 program.

“Because of the project’s national security significance, we’ve enacted a strict policy prohibiting investments from nationals of certain countries deemed foreign entities of concern,” a company spokesperson mentioned. They also stated that investors would undergo heightened scrutiny, and no details about potential investors’ nationalities have been disclosed.

The refinery’s supply chain aims not just to cater to U.S. needs but also to build competition against Chinese firms on a global scale. China heavily relies on cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where its companies dominate the mining sector. EVelution Energy is trying to strike a deal to acquire cobalt from Congo without routing it through Chinese facilities. They partnered with commodity trader Trafigura and a Congolese state company to develop a supply framework for processing cobalt hydroxide at their Arizona refinery.

Through this arrangement, cobalt will be refined in Arizona into battery-grade products for the U.S. aerospace, defense, and battery sectors; notwithstanding, the logistics still hinge on final agreements.

The company has also finalized an approximately $850 million deal with Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co. This agreement is expected to solidify a significant portion of the refinery’s cobalt production over five years, linking it with Japan to diversify the critical minerals’ supply chain.

The anticipated output from the refinery is about 7,000 metric tons of contained cobalt each year, which would consist of around 4,000 metric tons of battery-grade sulfate and 3,000 metric tons of alloy-grade cobalt.

Interestingly, initial estimates indicated that the project could create around 3,300 jobs tied to construction and operations, but the latest figures have ramped up to over 6,200 jobs over the life of the project. The reason for this increase hasn’t been explained yet.

Under EB-5 standards, investors are required to create at least ten full-time positions for eligible U.S. workers, but these workers don’t have to be U.S. citizens. Regulations also allow permanent residents and certain immigrants to count toward this requirement, but investors and their immediate family members cannot contribute to the job count.

This financing route is part of EVelution Energy’s larger effort to secure funding for the refinery, still in the development phase. The Export-Import Bank of the United States signaled possible financing of up to $275 million, though this remains contingent on federal assessment and approval.

The backdrop of this funding initiative speaks to the broader national push to reduce reliance on China for key minerals. The IEA has reported that China refines around 70% of the 20 strategic minerals critical to energy, indicating a pressing need for alternatives.

Looking ahead, EVelution Energy plans to kick off construction of the cobalt refinery in 2027, with aims for commercial operations by 2029. They believe that this innovative blend of immigration-linked investment could create a model for accelerating crucial U.S. projects in the critical minerals space.