- 01COB-Glomar to progress Project Infinity PEA.
- 02Scope: metallurgical tests, flowsheet, capex/opex, US site.
- 03PEA aims year-end; COB to receive US$150k on completion.
Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX: COB) has entered into a contract with consortium partner Glomar Minerals to deliver the key technical workstreams of a preliminary economic analysis (PEA) for the Project Infinity US-based polymetallic nodule refinery.
The contracted scope of work includes metallurgical test work and flowsheet design to extract manganese, copper, nickel, and cobalt from polymetallic nodule samples provided by Glomar using Cobalt Blue’s proprietary hydrometallurgical processing technology at the Broken Hill Technology Centre (BHTC) in New South Wales.
Cobalt Blue will also be responsible for capital and operating cost estimations and US site evaluation activities including layout and infrastructure requirements to support the PEA, which is currently targeted for completion by year end.
The work will assist in the identification of Project Infinity’s primary technical, commercial, and regulatory risks and opportunities and Cobalt Blue will receive US$150,000 on completion.
Glomar’s formal engagement of Cobalt Blue to progress technical work streams for Project Infinity is a key element of a consortium agreement the two companies signed in March.
First US Nodule Refinery
Project Infinity aims to build and operate the first commercial polymetallic nodule refinery in the US based on an integrated business to harvest, process, and sell minerals from nodules sourced from Glomar’s exploration licences at the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico.
The nodules provide a resource rich in cobalt, manganese, nickel, copper, iron, rare earth elements, and titanium, enabling multi‑commodity production from a single feedstock source.
The refinery is expected to serve US advanced manufacturing and defence industries and is directly aligned with national strategies to establish secure and resilient critical minerals supply chains.
Since its formation, the consortium has engaged with US state economic development offices and senior government representatives to create a shortlist of four potential brownfields locations across Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana.
Sites have been assessed against key operational and strategic criteria including proximity to port infrastructure and reagents, access to established utilities and transport networks, and availability of skilled labour.
Sizeable BHTC Investment
Cobalt Blue has invested more than $15 million in the BHTC since 2021 to validate its end‑to‑end process, optimise the refinery flowsheet across multiple feedstocks, and deliver key technical data to support commercial development.
The facility continues to produce samples of cobalt metal and cobalt sulphate for customer qualification programs and is central to the ongoing evaluation of black mass.
Black mass, which typically contains up to 40% graphite, is being assessed as a potential domestic feed source for the company’s Kwinana cobalt refinery.
Cobalt Blue received a letter of intent in November 2025 from global commodities trading house Hartree Partners for the purchase of cobalt metal from BHTC using feedstock from recycled battery black mass and other industrial waste materials.
It has also delivered 4 kilograms of cobalt sulphate monohydrate from BHTC to Australian national science agency CSIRO for use in a cathode precursor production pilot plant joint venture with Minerals Research Insitute of WA and Curtin University to support the development of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
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