Name of the Project
First Cobalt refinery project.

Location
The project is located in Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
First Cobalt Corp.

First Cobalt and Glencore AG agreed to a partnership framework in July 2019,  providing for a nondilutive, fully funded, phased approach to recommission the refinery. Subject to certain conditions, including the completion of a positive feasibility study and agreement upon commercial terms, the framework agreement envisages that First Cobalt will treat cobalt feed material, supplied from Glencore’s Democratic Republic of Congo operations, for an initial term of up to four-and-a-half years on a tolling basis. Glencore will provide up to 100% of the capital required to recommission and expand the facility.

Project Description
The First Cobalt refinery is a hydrometallurgical cobalt refinery with a nominal throughput of 12 t/d, producing a cobalt carbonate product along with nickel carbonate and silver precipitate. The facility incorporates two settling ponds and an autoclave pond, as well as a large warehouse building that once housed a conventional mill.

The independent feasibility study conducted on the proposed permitted cobalt refinery envisages the expansion of the existing facility to 55 t/d and adapting it to be North America’s first producer of cobalt sulphate, an essential component in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EV).

The proposed new layout adds two new simple-engineered structures to the main complex – one for tailings belt filters and the other for crystallisation and product bagging. A new external building is also contemplated to house an expanded solvent-extraction (SX) circuit and sodium management infrastructure. Other changes to the site layout include additional tankage for reagent storage in the tank farm area and improvements to the ring road around the refinery to accommodate transport trucks.

The objective is to produce about 25 000 t/y of cobalt sulphate for the EV market.

Cobalt hydroxide feed is estimated 18 369 t and cobalt production at 5 096 t.

In tandem with the feasibility study, First Cobalt has completed a prefeasibility- (PFS-) level assessment of an early restart of the refinery using existing permits and equipment to operate at 12 t/d. The resulting prefeasibility report was intended as a benchmark from which various restart scenarios could be assessed.

Key differences in the 12 t/d demonstration plant scenario, compared to the 55 t/d feasibility study, include the treatment of a different cobalt alloy feedstock, with higher reagent requirements that significantly increases operating costs, and continuing to use the current tailings management facility rather than the dry-stack tailings design included in the 55 t/d feasibility study.

Using the PFS as a benchmark, three scoping studies are under way to assess alternate early commissioning scenarios.

In the first scenario, the refinery throughput would be reduced below 12 t/d to reduce the capital costs of a restart while enabling the refinery to operate as a demonstration plant to qualify cobalt sulphate product according to EV manufacturer specifications.

Under a second and third scenario, the refinery would initially be restarted at 12 t/d as a demonstration plant and would, over time, be retrofitted with a nominal 43 t/d hydroxide circuit and then either combined into a single circuit or left to conintue as two circuits capable of receiving different feedstocks. Results from the PFS and the three scoping studies will guide the company’s restart strategy.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Based on a cobalt price of $25/lb, the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $192-million and a pretax internal rate of return of 64%, with a payback period of only 1.8 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project has an initial capital estimate of $56-million; however, First Cobalt is evaluating opportunities to improve economics. Some of these include using a different technology or approach to managing sodium, which could have positive impacts on capital and operating costs.

Planned Start/End Date
The demonstration plant could be producing cobalt sulphate for EV battery product qualification as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

Latest Developments
First Cobalt has taken steps to strengthen its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices by joining the Cobalt Institute as an associate member.

The institute is a forum for global cobalt market participants. A key part of its mandate is to promote the responsible and sustainable production and use of cobalt.

First Cobalt has said that it intends to qualify the First Cobalt refinery under the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which is one of the most used resources for companies addressing responsible mineral sourcing issues in their supply chains. A central tenet of the initiative is applying the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development due diligence guidance for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

“Becoming a member of the Cobalt Institute demonstrates our commitment to implementing the most rigorous supply chain sourcing and ESG standards,” First Cobalt president and CEO Trent Mell has said.

First Cobalt is also in the initial stages of quantifying and benchmarking the expected carbon footprint of the First Cobalt refinery.

To assist with this work, the company has obtained a grant of $50 000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistant Programme to model its greenhouse-gas emissions and identify opportunities to reduce its carbon footprint throughout the refining process

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Ausenco Engineering Canada (independent feasibility study); Knight Piésold (geotechnical drilling); and Story Environmental (permit to take water).

Contact Details for Project Information
First Cobalt investor relations, tel+1 416 900 3891 or email info@firstcobalt.com.