Cobalt Blue completed the extraction of 4,000-5,000t of ore from the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP) in New South Wales for processing at its Demonstration Plant.  The company is undertaking a bulk sample program for potential global partners.

The project has continued to advance over the last few years.  A scoping study on BHCP was produced in 2017 followed by a PFS and maiden ore reserve in 2018.  A PFS and ore reserve update were published in 2020 together with a production target. The 2020 update envisages a 5-6Mtpy open pit mining operation that will extract ore using conventional drill and blast, load and haul, and dump processes.  Beneficiation will produce ~1Mtpy of concentrate over a 17-year life of mine. 

Broken Hill is an integrated project including both a mine and a refinery. The planned plant will produce 3.5ktpy of cobalt as MHP or cobalt sulphate with cash costs estimated at US$9.34/lb (C1 basis) for MHP and US$12.13/lb (AISC basis) for sulphate. In addition, 300kt of elemental sulphur will be produced. Total CAPEX is put at US$560M. Project Blue understands that a decision on the final product is yet to be taken, and will be informed by the sample program.

A Pilot Plant was commissioned in Broken Hill in early 2021 to replicate the process to extract cobalt from pyrite. In Q4 2021, pilot plant operations were finalised with 25 samples of MHP and cobalt sulphate sent to prospective clients in Europe and Asia. In Q2 2022, demonstration plant commissioning commenced. Cobalt Blue intends to identify project partners by end-2022 and complete a DFS by this time next year and approvals by 2023.