Toronto-basedĀ First Cobalt Corp. reports on the feedstock testing at its cobalt refinery in the town of Cobalt. Tests have assessed the suitability of cobalt hydroxide as a feedstock, and the results are promising.
The company says the refinery successfully leached 98% of the metal from the cobalt hydroxide with head grades in excess of 20% cobalt. Solvent extraction was then used to remove additional contaminants.
Additional cobalt extraction tests are underway and will be followed by sulphate crystallization to produce cobalt sulphate. The results are expected by the end of the quarter. If feed grades remain over 20% cobalt, bypassing the autoclave circuit may be possible and then refinery throughput would increase.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)