Cobalt Blue has a technology that can recover cobalt from pyrite. It has been applied to its Broken Hill cobalt project.
Its 2018 pre-feasibility study reported cobalt recoveries of 85% to 86% from ore to final cobalt sulphate product.
OZ Minerals is working to commission its Carrapateena copper-gold project in South Australia in the fourth quarter of 2019.
It is also looking at optimisation opportunities and that is where Cobalt Blue comes in.
Cobalt Blue will complete testwork to assess whether copper, gold and cobalt can be recovered from pyrite concentrate using its proprietary technology.
Discussions between the parties have identified possible similarities between the cobalt-pyrite minerals at the Broken Hill cobalt project and at Carrapateena.
The initial testwork will focus on the technical viability of the Cobalt Blue technology rather than optimising metal recoveries. That may be the subject of further studies.
