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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

eCobalt Plans Cobalt Mine in Salmon, Idaho

10/17/2017
Canada- based eCobalt plans to build its a cobalt mining operation in Salmon, Idaho, a city of just over 3,000 between the Bitterroot and Beverhead Dodge Lodge National Forrest, 258 miles north of Twin Falls. The project includes a hydrometallurgical refining facility at new railhead, 188 miles southeast of Salmon, in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Paul Farquharson, eCobalt President & CEO of the Company said, “After years of dedicated work, our Team is gratified the project is validated on a feasibility level, enabling us the opportunity to strategically advance to the next stage and pursue project financing, construction and production."

Pre-construction activities are underway in preparation for project construction and mine development contingent upon successful project financing. The project’s main competitive strengths are having a primary cobalt deposit located in the United States and a high reserve grade when compared to other existing sources of cobalt located globally,” he said.

“The feasibility study highlights multiple opportunities to enhance the economics of the project and these include expansion of the resource, optimization of the mine plan to process higher grade material and detailed engineering at the CPF to further reduce risk and improve capital and operating costs,” Farquharson added.

This is a robust project that could eventually be the sole primary producer of cobalt in the United States, company officials said. The future outlook for the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery markets further supports sustained and long-term demand for cobalt, a critical ingredient in the cathodes of rechargeable batteries. Our project is an important development for the battery supply chain enabling access to a secure, stable, ethically sourced and environmentally sound supply of battery grade cobalt sulphate, mined safely and responsibly in the United States.”

eCobalt Solutions is the only environmentally permitted, primary cobalt project located in the United States. The FS is based on an underground mine with a target production rate of 800 short tons per day and a weighted average annual production of 2.4M lbs of cobalt, 3.3M lbs of copper and 3,000 oz of gold over a 12.5 year mine life with an estimated pre-production period of 24 months utilizing a 0.25% cobalt cut-off grade.

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