Cobalt Blue Identifies Major Expansion Opportunities at Halls Creek Copper-Zinc Project
Cobalt Blue (ASX: COB) is moving quickly to progress significant upside opportunities the company identified in its recent scoping study for the Halls Creek project in Western Australia.
Delivered in the June quarter, the study confirmed Halls Creek would be able to support an attractive, low-cost, near-term copper-zinc operation.
The study also identified a number of opportunities to add further value, following a review of value engineering opportunities and historical exploration data.
Engineering Initiatives
Cobalt Blue has identified multiple engineering initiatives to deliver staged, near-term cash flow from two sequential operations—the Stage 1 Onedin open pit / heap leach facility and the Stage 2 Sandiego underground flotation concentrator.
The Stage 1 operation would use oxide and transitional feed to produce copper metal and zinc sulphate monohydrate through solvent extraction and various other processes.
The Stage 2 operation will utilise long-hole open stoping with cemented rock fill to maximise ore recovery and then use flotation to produce separate copper and zinc concentrates with silver credits.
The company is also investigating the potential to create a centralised processing hub, which would integrate satellite deposits into the development plan, thereby lowering unit capital metrics by extending life-of-mine and increasing throughput.
Sandiego Cobalt Potential
On the exploration side, the company is planning to follow-up the potential from cobalt found to occur within high-grade copper-zinc zones at Sandiego.
Studies suggest that adding cobalt to future mineral resource estimates could add a valuable by-product credit, enhancing the Stage 2 operation’s cost competitiveness.
“The upside opportunities offer immense value-add to the core project outlined in the scoping study,” chief executive officer Dr Andrew Tong said.
“Resource growth and associated project life could be realised through the drill-ready exploration opportunities.”
Kwinana Refinery Progress
Cobalt Blue also recently executed a contract with Glencore International to supply the company’s Kwinana Cobalt Refinery (KCR) with a minimum of 3,750 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide – 50% of KCR’s initial feedstock requirements – for three years, commencing from the start-up of commercial operations at the project.
This has helped Cobalt Blue and KCR partner Iwatani Australia advance towards a financing decision for the refinery, which the two companies expect to arrive at by the end of 2025 .
In the meantime, the parties need to satisfy a number of conditions, including samples meeting customer specifications, various project-related agreements, the completion of technical studies and independent due diligence, agreement on a financing plan, and IWA obtaining Foreign Investment Review Board approval.