Our Strategy
Mine to Battery Markets Strategy
Cobalt is a vital metal used in batteries and demand for batteries is growing fast as the world transitions to green energy and Electric Vehicles.
New legislation in the United States of America and European Union seeks to establish supply chains of responsibly sourced battery materials, creating opportunity for Australia… and Cobalt Blue.
Our strategy to provide a reliable supply of ethically sourced cobalt to power a more sustainable world is being built on 3 pillars:
Kwinana Cobalt Refinery
This refinery, located south of Perth in Western Australia, aims to produce battery grade cobalt and nickel sulphate for export and to accelerate Australia’s battery-making capability.
Our aim is to reliably produce a sustainably sourced, high grade, battery ready cobalt sulphate (CoSO4). We intend to process third-party feedstock (Stage 1) and source Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) from the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (Stage 2).
The Kwinana location offers many advantages, such as access to import/export markets and cost benefits of being situated in a major chemicals district (up to 60-70% of sulphate production costs come from reagents and chemicals). The area also produces all 4 lithium-ion battery cathode elements, making it ideal for collaboration with peers in the battery industry to produce cathode materials for global markets.
Take a Virtual Refinery Tour here.
Broken Hill Cobalt Project
This mine in Far West New South Wales aims to become one of the largest cobalt operations in the world and one of the largest global cobalt producers outside of Africa.
The operation is anticipated to be large-scale but relatively low-cost as the process separates over 80% of the waste from the ore at the first step. This means we intend to process less than 20% of the material brought out of the ground.
The BHCP is located approximately 25 kilometres southwest of Broken Hill, in far western New South Wales and hosts three large tonnage cobaltiferous pyrite deposits. Mineral processing separates pyrite from the ore, while downstream treatment of the pyrite concentrate recovers the cobalt.
Infrastructure for the operation is readily available to existing networks with direct connections to rail transport, water, and power. Onsite renewable power generation is being considered as a supplement to grid supply.
ReMine+
Cobalt Blue is at the forefront of processing technology that can extract critical minerals from pyrite in mine tailings.
Increasing global demand for battery metals and advancements in metallurgical processing have prompted a fresh look into the untapped potential of mine tailings.
Our innovative approach removes harmful acid-forming minerals and reduces costs associated with tailings management. Our process can contribute responsibly sourced metals at a fraction of the costs associated with new mining projects. In cases where critical metals are present in the waste material, we can work in partnership to support the global Green Energy Transition.
Re-processing mine waste offers numerous advantages commercially, environmentally, and for mining communities.