Cobalt Blue’s Chairman, Rob Biancardi, said: “We are excited to announce these
premium cobalt and sulphur product results. Our extensive testwork demonstrates
that the BHCP can produce high purity, battery ready cobalt sulphate that will power
the electric vehicles of the future.”
Introduction
The two key products to be produced and sold from BHCP are cobalt sulphate heptahy-
drate and elemental sulphur. COB is pleased to announce the recent testwork results
confirm that high-purity products can be achieved using the COB process for recovery
of metals from pyrite. Starting with drill samples from BHCP deposits, COB has now
completed a series of testwork programs culminating in the production of cobalt sulphate,
elemental sulphur and Mixed Hydroxide Product (MHP) samples. The testwork was mainly
completed at ALS Metallurgy (Burnie and Perth), with specialist services provided by
Harper International (furnace testwork) and Enersul (elemental sulphur processing).
The production of these final refined product samples will now be followed by pilot-scale trials in the purpose-built COB pilot plant at Broken Hill. COB will use the product samples in discussion with strategic partners – as per the cobalt products program (Cobalt Product and Sulphur Sample Program) and the sulphur product assessment agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (COB–Mitsubishi Corporation Sulphur Agreement).
Introduction
The two key products to be produced and sold from BHCP are cobalt sulphate heptahy-
drate and elemental sulphur. COB is pleased to announce the recent testwork results
confirm that high-purity products can be achieved using the COB process for recovery
of metals from pyrite. Starting with drill samples from BHCP deposits, COB has now
completed a series of testwork programs culminating in the production of cobalt sulphate,
elemental sulphur and Mixed Hydroxide Product (MHP) samples. The testwork was mainly
completed at ALS Metallurgy (Burnie and Perth), with specialist services provided by
Harper International (furnace testwork) and Enersul (elemental sulphur processing).
The production of these final refined product samples will now be followed by pilot-scale trials in the purpose-built COB pilot plant at Broken Hill. COB will use the product samples in discussion with strategic partners – as per the cobalt products program (Cobalt Product and Sulphur Sample Program) and the sulphur product assessment agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (COB–Mitsubishi Corporation Sulphur Agreement).
Samples of cobalt sulphate will also be provided to the Australian Future Batteries Industries – Co-operative Research Centre (https://fbicrc.com.au), for processing into cathode precursor, along with other Australian sourced raw material – nickel sulphate (NiWest, IGO), lithium hydroxide (Tianqi Lithium Australia), and manganese sulphate (Pilbara Metals Group).
Cobalt sulphate heptahydrate
As announced on 28 April 2020, COB produced a mixed cobalt-nickel hydroxide grading 37% cobalt and 7% nickel. This has now been refined to produce cobalt sulphate heptahydrate crystals and a nickel sulphate solution. Impurities were removed using conventional ion-exchange and solvent extraction techniques. The final cobalt sulphate crystals were obtained by evaporative crystallisation under vacuum. The nickel sulphate solution was a by-product of the process and will be subject to further studies for production of nickel sulphate crystals.
2020 Project Update and Ore Reserve Statement to be released shortly
COB has previously announced its intention to release an updated Ore Reserve Statement and supporting studies in mid-2020. COB expects the results to significantly improve the BHCP economics delivered as part of the 2018 PFS. The 2020 Project Update is expected to be released shortly.
Testwork update – large scale furnace work.
In addition to the testwork described above, BHCP sample concentrate (7.5 tonnes) is currently being stored at ANSAC (ANERGY) in Bunbury WA in preparation for calcine (furnace) testwork. After thermal decomposition, this calcined material will be moved to the COB Pilot Plant (Broken Hill). The calcined material will be used for leaching and metal recovery trials, whilst providing approximately 1 tonne of elemental sulphur for assessment by Mitsubishi Corporation.
The availability of personnel to run these trials has been affected because of business responses related to the COVID-19 pandemic however we expect the sample will be available in time for pilot plant commissioning later in the year. We expect that the testwork will be conducted over the course of Q3 2020.
Pilot Plant update – expected commissioning in Q4
A key stepping stone on the Company’s development path is to build a metallurgical testing centre in Broken Hill. This centre will
scale from an initial Pilot Plant Operation (producing ~100-300 kilograms of cobalt sulphate from 90 tonnes of ore) to a larger scale
fully integrated Demonstration Plant (producing 1–2 tonnes of cobalt sulphate using up to 2,000 tonnes of ore). The results will form
the evidentiary basis for the engineering designs and cost estimates for the BHCP Feasibility Study. Equipment, for the pilot plant
has now arrived on site in Broken Hill and is currently in the process of installation.