PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-, TSX-, and OTCQX-listed Jervois Global has drawn down $51-million of its subsidiary’s bond offering to complete the construction of the Idaho Cobalt Operations (ICO) in the US.
This was the second and final drawdown of a $100-million bond offering.
Jervois last year approved $92.6-million capital for construction of the mine and process facility.
The operation would comprise of a 1 200 t/d mill and concentrator to produce separated cobalt and copper concentrates. Gold mineralisation in the reserve at ICO will be reported to the cobalt concentrate, and will be recovered at the São Miguel Paulista refinery, in Brazil, subject to Jervois completing the acquisition and restart of the refinery in stages during 2022 and 2023.
Jervois said on Wednesday that the company is on track to commence commissioning ICO in the third quarter of 2022.
Once in production, ICO will be the only primary cobalt mine in the US and will supply a critical metal necessary for electric vehicles, energy generation and distribution, defense and other industries, and will play a key role in the transition to the low carbon economy.