A company aspiring to build the US’s first large-scale cobalt processing facility announced an agreement that could allow it to source hand-dug metal from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

EVelution Energy LLC is part of a memorandum of understanding signed in Madrid on Wednesday which also involves state-owned Entreprise Generale du Cobalt, or EGC, and commodity trading giant Trafigura Group. The arrangement establishes “a framework for the long-term supply of Congolese cobalt hydroxide” to the US, the trio said in a joint statement.