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15/06/17
15:27
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Originally posted by Deme
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I'm bullish on the price of cobalt, however, I am not interested in any of the plays within Australia - due to their low grades (cobalt as a by-product of Ni-Cu laterites) - CLQ being a possible exception (on my watchlist). If you are referring to the pure-play COB - (Co sulphide) - the grades (0.1%) are still too low for mine and the value proposition just isn't evident.
Mark Thompson made an excellent point in the vid when he stated: "In Europe, cobalt is on the critical minerals list. In the EU, if you have a project involving cobalt, you can get preferred status on development. So, there is some upside on the speed you can bring projects to market ". The two best European plays, IMO, are BMT and EUC. Both are nimble, can extract a much higher grade of Co easily, potentially process the existing tailings dumps (which could contain Co up to 0.5%), existing infrastructure is already in place (obviating massive CapEx), and importantly, can deliver a product to market in a very short timeframe. In contrast, COB are targetting mid-late 2019 before even making a decision to mine, followed by finance, etc, so we are talking a long way off.
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The demand will be strong and longterm as large increases of cobalt use explodes. COB is in an enviable position with a unique resource near all infrastrure & services with the credit of sulphuric acid that is needed domestically for large users.