The latest instalment of a key critical minerals grant has been delivered to Cobalt Blue before construction on its cobalt-nickel project kicks off later this year.
The Australian Government awarded Cobalt Blue the grant under the Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative (CMAI) in 2022.
Over $15 million in funding is being paid to Cobalt Blue, with $3 million received by the critical minerals aspirant last week, bringing the total received so far to $13.5 million.
In November 2023, Cobalt Blue published a study detailing a large-scale cobalt-nickel operation in New South Wales.
Cobalt Blue is aiming for the Broken Hill project to be one of the largest cobalt producers in the world.
The company’s strategy is to develop a cobalt-nickel refinery in Kwinana, Western Australia, to process critical battery metals from third party feedstock and mixed hydroxide precipitate from Broken Hill.
With this latest cash injection, Cobalt Blue said it aimed to present a compelling evaluation of a cobalt and nickel refining business expected to generate stable margins throughout the highs and lows of the cobalt price cycle.
“We continue to progress the development of the refinery and workstreams are on track for a decision in (the second half of) 2024 to proceed to construction,” the company said.
The CMAI is not the only benefit Cobalt Blue is set to reap in the coming years, with the latest Federal Budget announcing a new Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive for critical minerals processors.
The new tax break will provide a production incentive valued at 10 per cent of relevant processing and refining costs for Australia’s 31 critical minerals.
The incentive is worth almost $32 billion, with $13.7 billion set aside over the next decade to continue to fund the initiative.
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