Cobalt Blue advances Koongie Park
Cobalt Blue has commenced a scoping study for the Koongie Park project in Western Australia, of which it recently acquired a 51 per cent interest.
Located in the Kimberley region of WA, Koongie Park hosts two major deposits: Sandiego and Onedin. Together, both deposits hold 89,000 tonnes (t) of copper, 69,000t lead, 326,000t zinc, 9.2 million ounces of silver and 45,000 ounces of gold.
Following a comprehensive desktop review, Cobalt Blue identified development options at Sandiego and Onedin to be advanced through a scoping study, which is expected to be completed by June 2025.
The review included historical metallurgical testwork that confirmed high recoveries across specific metals.
The company will now advance flowsheet development by using two separate processing pathways: oxide/transition mineralisation via acid leaching and sulphide mineralisation through flotation.
Mine scheduling will be based on a processing plant throughput of 700,000–800,000 tonnes per annum.
Further metallurgical testwork will be conducted to investigate potential recovery of other metals such as zinc, silver, gold and cobalt from oxide-transition material, and optimise overall recoveries using the latest processing technology.
“This testwork will follow detailed geometallurgical characterisation to inform future resource domaining having regard to the preferred flowsheets,” Cobalt Blue said.
“Cobalt Blue intends to complete the study considering development of both the Onedin and Sandiego deposits through a combination of open-cut and underground mining.”
Opportunities to expand the Koongie Park resource base will also be conducted to increase the project’s overall scale and operating life.
Cobalt Blue has also progressed its Kwinana cobalt refinery in WA towards a final investment decision.
In partnership with consulting and engineering services firm Tetra Tech, 80 per cent of the detailed plant engineering has been completed.
Cobalt Blue has submitted a works approval permit application to the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, which is now being assessed.
The company is continuing offtake negotiations under commercial-in-confidence agreements, with cobalt sulphate samples generated upon request at the Broken Hill Technology Centre. It is also engaging with export credit agencies, commercial banks and potential investors on funding options for Kwinana.
Cobalt Blue intends to change its name to Core Blue Minerals to represent it diversifying its portfolio beyond cobalt. The change is subject to shareholder approval.