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The company had been expecting to have its Broken Hill Cobalt Project pilot plant commissioning in the third quarter.

It ordered long lead items such as the leaching tanks and filter equipment in September.

That equipment has been received at the Broken Hill site and is awaiting installation.

The rest of the pilot plant equipment is to be sourced locally. However, with COVID-19 wreaking havoc with supply chains, Cobalt Blue expects its domestically-sourced parts will take longer to get, hence the commissioning date push back.

The pilot plant is expected to produce about 100kg to 300kg of cobalt sulphate from 90t of ore.

It is part of Cobalt Blue's plans to build a metallurgical testing centre in Broken Hill, based around that plant

The testing centre will from the initial pilot plant to a fully integrated demonstration plant producing 1t to 2t of cobalt sulphate from up to 2000t of ore.

The results of that will provide the evidence needed for the engineering designs and cost estimates for the BHCP Feasibility Study.

The centre will also allow Cobalt Blue to produce varying specifications of cobalt products, including mixed hydroxides and sulphates, for potential commercial partners.

Cobalt Blue is also progressing a State Significant Development application with the New South Wales authorities.

The company is sticking to its plan to produce cobalt sulphate at a cash cost of US$10 per pound.