- A pilot trial for a concentrate circuit program as Cobalt Blue’s Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales has revealed a 90 per cent recovery of cobalt to concentrate
- The results from the concentrate circuit confirmed 2018 pre-feasibility study results at a 50 times larger scale
- Company management said the results were encouraging and bode well for potential commercial implementation of the circuit
- Going forward, Cobalt Blue is developing more detailed plans for pilot testing
Cobalt Blue has finished a pilot trial has revealed a 90 per cent recovery of cobalt to concentrate at it’s NSW, Broken Hill project.
Cobalt Blue completed a pre-feasibility study at Broken Hill in mid-2018, and since February this year, the company has been treating drill chips through a pilot-scale concentrate circuit as a facility in Tasmania. The results from the concentrate circuit confirmed the pre-feasibility study results at 50 times larger scale.
Company management said the results were encouraging and bode well for potential commercial implementation of the circuit. According to Cobalt Blue, the circuit equipment is simple and robust, providing a strong foundation for process plant operations.
Furthermore, the technology can significantly reduce capital and operating costs for a refinery, with its ability to upgrade ore by concentration while retaining roughly 90 per cent of the cobalt and rejecting roughly 80 per cent of the feed to tails.
Going forward, Cobalt Blue is developing more detailed plans for pilot testing, including progressing the concentrate produced from this pilot trial through a pilot-scale furnace in Bunbury. Plans are also being prepared for a second concentrate trial at Broken Hill. The company will also start engineering design work to update the pre-feasibility study costings for the concentration circuit.
Cobalt Blue shares hit a premium 15 cents a piece early this afternoon, but are now trading 3.7 per cent above their last closing price at 14 cents each in a $21.74 million market cap.