- Approximately 10 billion tonnes of global mine waste is produced annually, mostly contained in tailings facilities. These facilities require ongoing management to mitigate potential environmental harm and many contain discarded metals that are important to the Global Energy Transition.
- Recent critical minerals legislation enacted by the United States (US) and European Union (EU) responds to growing demand for responsibly sourced critical minerals essential to battery chemistry, especially to supply the rapid growth in Electric Vehicles (EVs) and battery storage systems. This global backdrop is prompting a re-evaluation of the value contained in mine waste.
- Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited is an ASX-listed Australian Company with a strategy to provide a reliable supply of responsibly sourced battery metals to the world. Our projects include a cobalt-nickel refinery in Western Australia, the Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales, and the patented technology to re-process mine waste.
- Cobalt Blue is a global leader in the application of technology and expertise to extract critical minerals from mine waste, like cobalt and nickel, which are essential to lithium ion battery chemistry. The Cobalt Blue process also removes acid-forming sulphides to create commercial opportunity through sulphur production, this reduces ongoing tailings management costs and mitigates potential environmental harm.
- With established test-work arrangements in Australia and Canada, and strong interest being shown in Europe, Cobalt Blue is on the verge of a large-scale global opportunity contained in mine waste and at the forefront of delivering beneficial outcome.
Dr Helen Degeling leads the waste streams project at Cobalt Blue, identifying opportunities for green metal extraction from mine waste. A PhD qualified geologist, Dr Degeling, has over 18 years’ experience in mining, government and academia and a passion for the circular mining economy.
According to Dr Degeling: “At Cobalt Blue we intend to turn this massive mine waste legacy into an opportunity, not only for the mining industry, but also for battery manufacturers, local communities, and the environment. Our mine waste solution has the potential to commercialise discarded metals and leave sites with a smaller volume of benign waste to reduce the overall environmental liability”.