• A consortium including Glencore has proposed fresh equity at C$0.12 per share and seeks at least 55% control of Sherritt, challenging an earlier rescue plan involving Gillon Capital
• Sherritt’s crisis deepened after US sanctions and Cuba’s energy shortages disrupted feedstock from the Moa nickel and cobalt operation
• The rescue is strategically important because Sherritt controls scarce North American nickel and cobalt processing capacity, though new capital alone will not restore value unless the feedstock and sanctions problem is resolved

Harare - A consortium including Glencore has submitted a rival recapitalisation proposal for Sherritt International, opening a contest for control of a financially distressed Canadian nickel and cobalt company whose crisis has exposed a strategic weakness in North America’s critical minerals supply chain according to the latest circular.

The consortium includes Glencore, Kyma Capital, investor Trifon Natsis and an unnamed United States anchor investor. It proposes fresh equity at C$0.12 per share and seeks at least 55% ownership of Sherritt on a fully diluted basis. The proposal competes with an earlier transaction under discussion with Gillon Capital, the Texas family office associated with former Trump administration official Ray Washburne.

Sherritt is a Toronto based mining and refining company with a long history in nickel and cobalt processing. Its metals business centres on a 50% interest in the Moa Joint Venture in Cuba and the Fort Saskatchewan refinery in Alberta. The Cuban operation produces intermediate nickel and cobalt material that is shipped to Canada for refining. Sherritt has described Fort Saskatchewan as North America’s only significant cobalt refinery and one of three significant nickel refineries, giving the company an industrial position that carries greater strategic value than its current financial condition alone would imply.

That integrated Cuba to Canada model became Sherritt’s central vulnerability during 2026. Cuba’s severe energy shortages disrupted mining and processing operations early in the year. The United States administration then issued an executive order on 1 May expanding sanctions against Cuba. Sherritt suspended direct participation in its Cuban joint ventures from 7 May and subsequently lost access to cash held within the Moa structure.

Fort Saskatchewan initially continued producing finished nickel and cobalt from existing inventories. Sherritt warned that available feed would last only until around mid June. Metals refining subsequently stopped after the remaining material was exhausted. The refinery will require the restoration of mining and processing at Moa and the rebuilding of the feedstock pipeline before sustained production can resume.

The shutdown creates the central economic contradiction behind the rescue contest. North America possesses a functioning nickel and cobalt refinery and still lacks full supply security because the raw material feeding that refinery originates in a jurisdiction exposed to sanctions and severe energy constraints. Processing capacity therefore carries limited strategic protection when upstream supply remains concentrated.

The operating shock quickly became a financing problem. Sherritt said in July that it continued operating with constrained liquidity and faced material uncertainty over its ability to continue as a going concern. The company also faces a potential repayment demand on a US$57 million loan if lenders exercise their rights following default related events. Restoring production requires additional working capital before normal cash generation can resume.

Gillon Capital entered the process first through a preliminary agreement announced in May. The proposed structure would give Gillon warrants capable of lifting its ownership to approximately 55%. The final acquisition price remains undetermined. United States authorities have told the parties that they do not object to negotiations with Sherritt. Those communications do not amount to approval of a completed transaction.

The Glencore consortium says it submitted its competing proposal on 26 June. The group intends to inject capital through a United States domiciled vehicle and allow eligible existing shareholders to participate at C$0.12 per share. Sherritt has confirmed receipt of the proposal and describes it as unsolicited, non binding, conditional and currently not executable.

Glencore’s involvement gives the proposal an industrial dimension. The group already operates across mining, processing and global commodity marketing. The Financial Times reports that Glencore is expected to seek marketing and future purchase rights connected to Sherritt production, with its exact commercial rights and capital contribution still undisclosed.

That potential interest helps explain why a company carrying substantial financial stress can still attract strategic investors. Sherritt owns established refining infrastructure, specialised processing expertise and a direct relationship with a long life nickel and cobalt resource. Replicating the Canadian refinery would require new capital, permitting, construction and technical development. Acquiring an existing platform can therefore offer strategic value even before the current supply disruption is resolved. 

The refinery was producing just over 200 tonnes of cobalt and almost 1,900 tonnes of nickel during the first quarter before the shutdown. Those volumes are modest in global terms and valuable in a North American market seeking greater control over critical minerals processing.

The rescue proposal still leaves the hardest problem unresolved. Fresh equity can strengthen Sherritt’s balance sheet and extend its financial runway. A recapitalisation can also prevent liquidity pressure from forcing a disorderly restructuring. Neither measure automatically restores feedstock to Fort Saskatchewan.

The winning investor needs a sanctions compliant route capable of reconnecting the Cuban mine with the Canadian refinery or an alternative source of compatible feedstock. That operating solution will determine the economic value of the rescue because an idle refinery generates limited return regardless of who controls the equity.

The transaction therefore carries three linked tests, Sherritt needs enough capital to survive the current interruption. The eventual ownership structure needs creditor and shareholder support. The operating model needs regulatory clearance and dependable feedstock before the Canadian refinery can return to sustained production.

The dispute also carries a governance dimension. Kyma Capital has challenged Sherritt’s board and sought leadership changes, increasing pressure on directors to demonstrate that any recapitalisation selected provides a defensible outcome for shareholders and creditors.

The C$0.12 consortium price provides investors with a visible financing benchmark. Gillon’s final economic terms remain undisclosed. Shareholders will ultimately need to compare the amount of fresh capital introduced, the ownership transferred, the dilution imposed on existing investors, creditor treatment and any marketing or offtake rights granted to the new controlling investor.

Sherritt’s crisis provides a broader lesson for critical minerals policy. Domestic refining capacity does not create supply independence by itself. Industrial security depends on the entire chain from ore supply through processing, logistics, financing and regulation. Fort Saskatchewan became inactive because the weakest part of that chain sat thousands of kilometres away in Cuba.

Glencore’s consortium and Gillon Capital are therefore competing for more than a distressed Canadian miner. They are competing for control of a scarce North American processing platform whose strategic value has become clearer precisely because its feedstock chain has failed. The winning bidder can repair Sherritt’s balance sheet. The larger investment test will be whether that new owner can restore an operating supply chain capable of turning the refinery back into a durable critical minerals asset.

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