Canada's First Cobalt to issue shares to Glencore to repay $5.5 million debt

(Reuters) - Canada's First Cobalt Corp entered into a deal with Glencore Plc's unit under which it will repay an existing loan of about $5.5 million by issuing shares, the cobalt miner said on Friday.

First Cobalt will issue 23.8 million common shares to Glencore AG at $0.29 per share, representing about 4.8% of the company's current outstanding shares.

In 2019, First Cobalt entered into a loan agreement with the miner and commodity trader to fund engineering studies, metallurgical testwork and permitting activities for an expansion of the company's refinery in Ontario, Canada.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)