The Broken Hill Technology Centre (BHTC) was established as a demonstration facility to support development of the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP) and the Kwinana Cobalt Refinery (KCR) in Western Australia.
Between 2021 and 2024, pilot and demonstration campaigns conducted at BHTC generated the critical technical data underpinning the BHCP feasibility. These programs validated the process flowsheet, confirmed metallurgical performance, and significantly de-risked the project’s development pathway.
Explore the four-stage process to see how the BHTC supports the Broken Hill Project Feasibility Studies
Demonstration Mining & Bulk Sampling
In 2022, approximately 6,000 tonnes of mineralised material were extracted from the Pyrite Hill deposit at the Broken Hill Cobalt Project to support metallurgical testwork and validation of the processing flowsheet.
The material was then separated into six parcels, representing sequential portions from the mining operations. Each parcel was stage-crushed to a top size of 4 mm and characterised for grade, hardness, mineralogy and grain size distribution.
The Broken Hill Cobalt Project Demonstration Portal
The Broken Hill Cobalt Project Crushing CircuitConcentration Circuit
A two-stage gravity spiral circuit, followed by a scavenger float circuit was used to selectively concentrate pyrite from the ore. The combined gravity and flotation processes achieved recoveries of up to 95%, producing approximately 676 tonnes of wet pyrite concentrate.
Gravity spirals
Sample concentrate
Pyrolysis Circuit
The pyrite concentrate was then processed through the pyrolysis circuit at the Broken Hill demonstration plant facility. In this stage of the Cobalt Blue process, pyrite (FeS2) is thermally decomposed to produce pyrrhotite (Fe7S8) and elemental sulphur.
Sulphur gas generated during decomposition is recovered through condensation from kiln off gas, before being reprocessed and granulated for commercial sale.
Sulphur in the condensation tank
Demonstration Plant Kiln to convert pyrite into pyrrhotite and elemental sulphurPressure Oxidation Leach Circuit
The hydrometallurgical circuit was designed to leach cobalt contained in pyrrhotite and produce a mixed hydroxide product (MHP).
The resulting precipitate contained approximately 35-40% cobalt and ~5-7% nickel which is intended to be refined at the Kwinana Cobalt Refinery.
The leach residue primarily consists of hematite and elemental sulphur. Extensive testwork has confirmed the residue has very low potential to generate acid-mine drainage, significantly reducing environmental risk associated with the project.
Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate
