Production at eCobalt Solutions could start in mid- to late 2019 at its Idaho Cobalt Project near Salmon, ramping up to full output by the second quarter of 2020, a company official said Friday.
Rick Honsinger, senior vice president of the Vancouver-based company, told S&P Global Platts in an interview that eCobalt is evaluating several letters of intent from potential offtake partners for the cobalt concentrate. The prospective offtakers were not identified, with eCobalt saying only they are "reputable firms across different markets and cobalt supply chains."
While eCobalt hopes to enter into one or more offtake arrangements before the end of March, Honsinger stressed the project is not financially dependent on doing so.
"There's going to be an equity portion, too," he said, although the company-financed amount has not been determined.
Pre-construction activities are underway at the mine site. They include installing a crusher.
In a statement this week, eCobalt President and CEO Paul Farquaharson said the "significant" outside interest in the project provides "further support for the company's decision to produce a cobalt concentrate" from the Idaho mine.
Clean cobalt concentrate is an upstream product containing less than 1% arsenic, and is used in the production of precursor battery cathode material. The Idaho project is expected to produce the equivalent of 1,500 mt of high-purity cobalt sulfate annually over a projected 12.5-year mine life.
