Name of the Project
Thackaringa cobalt project.

Location
Western New South Wales, in Australia.

Project Owner/s
Broken Hill Prospecting Limited (BPL 30%) and Cobalt Blue Holdings (70%).

Project Description
Thackaringa has proven and probable reserves of 46.3-million tonnes grading 819 parts per million of cobalt. Using the mining ore reserve, an initial mine life of 9.3 years has been delineated for the project. The mine is expected to produce about

3 657 t/y of metal in sulphate. Total life-of-mine production is estimated at 32 453 t/y of cobalt metal in sulphate.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) has proposed the development of the site through the exploitation of the Pyrite Hill, Big Hill and Railway cobaltiferous pyrite deposits. Four opencut mining pits, a plant treating ore and producing cobalt sulphate heptahydrate crystals and associated by-products, a tailings storage facility (TSF) and supplementary infrastructure will be used as required. The project will use openpit mining methods, adopting a conventional truck/excavator operation. The load-and-haul and drill-and-blast operations are proposed to be run by contractors.

The processing plant will have a capacity of 5.25-million tonnes a year, following commissioning. The proposed TSF is required to provide future capacity for the storage of filtered and compacted tailings from the extracted minerals of the pits on site. The project involves mining and processing with a production rate generating an estimated 4.8-million tonnes a year of tailings.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$792-million and an internal rate of return of 27%, with a payback of four years.

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure is estimated at A$550-million.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Cobalt Blue has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to test its sulphur by-product at the Thackaringa project.

Cobalt Blue has produced about 75 kg of elemental sulphur to date as part of its scoping and feasibility studies, and is working with a Canadian firm to turn the powdered sulphur into prills.

Under the agreement, Mitsubishi will conduct marketing trials for the elemental sulphur. If the trials prove successful, the parties will negotiate an offtake contract for the commercial production and sale of the by-product from Thackaringa.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cobalt Blue Holdings, tel +61 2 9966 5629 or email info@cobaltblueholdings.com.