Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB, OTC:CBBHF) has completed the extraction of 4,000-5,000 tonnes of ore from the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP) in New South Wales for processing at the Demonstration Plant as part of a bulk sample program for potential global partners.
Ore has been extracted from underground at the Pyrite Hill deposit of the mine site 23 kilometres west of the mining town of Broken Hill and delivered to the plant in the town.
The decline at Pyrite Hill has intersected mineralisation from around 68 metres with some 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes delivered for processing.
Set up for Demonstration Plan operations
Additional material will be utilised for scaled geometallurgical studies intended to support process plant optimisation.
Cobalt Blue’s chief executive officer Joe Kaderavek said: “Strong progress allowed us to extract further ore for better overall representativity.
"The completion of the mining, and now crushing, sets up Demonstration Plant operations in coming months.”
Crushed ore stockpile ready for milling.
Underground development
Since the underground portal was established in late April, a total of 148.3 metres of development has been completed comprising:
- 86 metres of decline development;
- 24.1 metres of cross strike development; and
- 38.2 metres of strike parallel development.
Additional material will be utilised for scaled geometallurgical studies intended to support process plant optimisation.
The ROM has been separated into six parcels, representing sequential portions from the mining operations.
These parcels have been individually stage crushed at the mine site to a 4mm top size. Characterisation of the parcels is ongoing for grade, hardness, mineralogy and grain size.
To date, the concentrator circuit has been treating Parcel 1, with the first step being milling of the ore to a top size of 1-1.5 mm. Operations are progressing at around 6 tonnes per hour feed into the concentrator.
Geology team mapping underground development.
Groundwater drilling
Cobalt Blue has resumed drilling activities at Pyrite Hill and has mobilised a multi-purpose rig to site for the installation of groundwater monitoring bores.
Further installations across the broader project area will continue through September.
The company will use data from these bores to further inform the groundwater impact assessment as a component of the broader suite of studies being completed for preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
This month, the staged mobilisation of additional drill rigs will continue for the execution of a campaign intended to advance geotechnical investigations for further pit optimisation and waste rock characterisation.