eCobalt Solutions said that construction continues to advance on time and on budget at its Idaho Cobalt Project (ICP), located near the Salmon, in the Idaho Cobalt Belt in the US.
Image: The WTP and concentrator pads with WTP foundation. Photo: courtesy of CNW Group/eCobalt Solutions Inc.
The ICP remains the sole, near-term environmentally permitted primary cobalt deposit in the United States.
eCobalt president & CEO Paul Farquharson said: “Very good progress has been made at the ICP by our exceptional team of mining professionals.
“We remain on target for commercial production to begin in 2020. In addition, discussions continue to progress with strong interest from multiple potential off-take partners and project financiers in numerous jurisdictions.
“We remain focused on the execution of our strategic plan to create long term value for all shareholders by pursuing a clean cobalt concentrate favourable to the battery manufacturing market.”
Progress development highlights include:
Water Treatment Plant (“WTP”) equipment has been mobilized to site.
Completed the WTP building foundation and slab. Building steel erection and placement of large components to commence August 18th.
Started lining the Tailings Waste Storage Facility (“TWSF”) and ponds for September completion.
Completed potable water system connection to site admin building.
Completed the power distribution system to the ponds and wells.
Completed pumpback system earthworks, installation of the system pipelines now in progress.
Opened a temporary camp for the construction workforce near the project gate.
Completed the fuel island containment pad for August installation of equipment for bulk diesel delivery and on site distribution.
To date 700 cubic yards of concrete have been poured at the mine and mill site, representing 25% of the total concrete requirements of the project.
Metallurgical Test Work Update
Development of the concentrate roasting process utilizing a rotary kiln continues as planned. Bench scale testing, conducted by Expert Processing Solutions, a Dundee Sustainable Technologies partner laboratory, was completed in July.
Pilot-level testing to confirm the updated process flow sheet was also conducted in July at Hazen Research, Inc. This test confirmed stable process temperature and material flow conditions to volatilize the arsenic from the concentrate into the off-gas stream identified in the bench scale tests.
Additional pilot testing is ongoing to confirm roasting off-gas management system design criteria to efficiently remove the arsenic from the kiln off-gasses for vitrification.
As development advances, ongoing testing will allow for additional improvements where appropriate.
This ongoing testwork will ensure that there is a high level of confidence in the flowsheet for the Cobalt Production Facility and contribute to further de-risking the project by establishing properly tested metallurgical and processing parameters.
Source: Company Press Release