"Broken Hill is a hotspot for cobalt lately, FYI the main cobalt players are:
- AUZ: mc 281 million. sp: $0.1 - (Broken Hill cobalt is the third priority after Sconi and Flemington)
- COB: mc 111 million. sp: $1.07 - (Broken Hill cobalt is the one and only project for COB)
- HAV: mc 57 million. sp: $0.26 - (Just over the South Australian border from Broken Hill copper, cobalt and gold mining project)
- CCZ: mc 26 million. sp $0.044 - (Broken Hill cobalt and several other targets)
- BPL: mc 16 million. sp: $0.1 - (Broken Hill cobalt and a heavy mineral sands project)
- AYR: mc 10 million. sp: $0.009 - (Broken Hill cobalt and Horse Well Gold Project)"
Just building on what you said ....
Broken Hill Region: A Cobalt Enriched Neighbourhood
Increasingly, global tech-groups have moved to have key raw material inputs sourced from ethical and well-regulated jurisdictions like Australia.
Arguably, the above companies you listed hold assets that are exceptionally well positioned, close to peers that have defined cobalt resources or highly encouraging exploratory reports for cobalt mineralisation.
Recently HAV and COB reached an agreement to jointly investigate cobalt recovery potential on the Mutooroo copper-cobalt massive sulphide ore. The cooperation agreement is based on the potential to unlock the Broken Hill region’s cobalt potential by partnering the two entities in a proximal geographical location with similar cobalt-pyrite ore bodies.
The Board of CCZ is considering the potential of such an agreement to co-operate and expediate to development any future similar cobalt pyrite ore bodies uncovered within the CCZ Broken Hill tenures.
A key feature of the cobalt mineralisation within this area of the Broken Hill region is it is hosted within sulphides, which makes is significantly simpler and more cost efficient to extract, compared with laterites.
COB has undertaken metallurgical test-work that utilises a coarse crush and gravity separation that upgrades ore (which contains 20% sulphides) to a concentrate that comprises circa 90% sulphides. The result of tests on a bulk 820kg sample showed that, on average, the amount of cobalt in the ore increased from c.600ppm to c.3,300ppm7 after it was processed into the sulphide concentrate.
This is an exciting development as it potentially means that low grade cobalt ore can now be upgraded into a more economically viable concentrate. More encouraging, is the process utilises a simple technique requiring modest capital expenditure and relatively inexpensive operational costs.
Most importantly, however, if this technology can be deployed efficiently then it means the focus is very much on the amount of contained cobalt metal within a JORC compliant resource. To date, among peers, only two groups have defined total resources, while one has encouraging results (Table 1 below):
TABLE 1: RESOURCES AND NOTABLE RESULTS FROM NEARBY PEERS
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
1
ASX Code
Project/Deposit Name
Peer Total Resources (Co only reported) / Notable Results
Distance from CCZ
2
COB
Pyrite Hill Deposit
23.5Mt @ 954pm Co (cut off 500ppm Co), includes an estimated contained 22,468t of Co metal
5km SSW
3
COB
Big Hill
8.2Mt @ 763pm Co (cut off 500ppm Co), includes an estimated contained 6,234t of Co metal
5km S
4
COB
Railway
23.2Mt @ 917pm Co (cut off 500ppm Co), includes an estimated contained 21,284t of Co metal
3km S
5
COB
Total Resource – Thackaringa project, NSW
54.9Mt @ 910pm Co (cut off 500ppm Co), includes an estimated contained 49,986t of Co metal
6
HAV
Kalkaroo, SA
193.3Mt @ 120ppm Co (cut off 20ppm Co & 0.4% Cu Eq.), includes an estimated contained 23,200t of Co metal
62km NW
7
HAV
Mutooroo, SA
13.1Mt @ 0.13%Co (geological constraints cut off ore), includes an estimated contained 17,100t of Co metal
35Km SW
Source: CCZ ASX announcement 19 March 2018
Note: For HAV's Kalkaroo and Mutooroo projects, Co is a by-product hence the low Co cut off.
Cheers These are only my random (Pollyanna) thoughts and it does not constitute investment advice. Before acting on any information you read and before making any financial or investment decisions, you should always consult your advisor(s) or other relevant professional experts.
