1. Conflict-free cobalt play banks on
battery boom
Tuesday 3rd January 2017
RobertBiancardi has high hopes for new float Cobalt Blue. Louie Douvis

2. by Angela Macdonald-Smith
A world away from the scandal-hit mining industry of the Democratic
Republic of Congo stands the Thackaringa projectin NSW's mining
heartland of Broken Hill, said to host one of the world's largest
undeveloped cobaltreserves.
The directors of projectdeveloperCobalt Blue Holdings are positioning
their new mining play as an answer to the "conflictmetals" problem
plaguing the DRC's mining industry which is causing tech giants suchas
Apple and Samsung Electronics to seek out alternative supplies of a raw material
that is essential for smartphones and batteries.
It is not just the damning reports about child labour and unsafe conditions in the
cobalt mines of the DRC, supplier of about 60 per cent of global cobalt
demand, that are playing in favour of Australia's new breed of aspiring
players.
"The larger companies will look to ethically source their cobalt," says Joe
Kaderavek, chief executive of Cobalt Blue and a formerDeutsche Bank
head of resources.
"We could well find the supply/demand tensions could get worse," he said
of the market already growing at about 8 per cent a year.
In a sectorwhere 98 per cent of cobalt is co-produced with nickel and
copper,Cobalt Blue counts itself among the rare breed of pure-play
companies, which are potentially attractive for investors looking to tap
into the hot commodities with leverage to the expected boomin electric
vehicles. Cobalt is an essential ingredient of lithium-ion batteries and of
superalloys that are increasingly used in aircraft.
Early stage
A spin-off from Broken Hill Prospecting that is understood to have raised its
IPO maximum of $10 million, Cobalt Blue is due to start trading on the ASX
on January 31 following a delay after the ASX demanded an upgraded
resource assessment.That has beenprovided in a replacementprospectus

3. lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.The
shares were sold at 20¢ apiece.
The Thackaringa project hosts an inferred resource of 33.1 million tonnes
at 833 parts per million of cobalt, and an exploration target of 40 million-66
million tonnes at 600-900 ppm.Its location on the outskirts of Broken Hill
ensures access to skilled mine workers, electricity and water supplies and
close access to a railway that would take product400km to Port Pirie in
South Australia for eventual export.
The venture is, however, at an early stage, with management aiming to
have a bankable feasibility study for the projectand all approvals in place
by July 2019.Two years of engineering, developmentand construction
would follow.
Chairman Rob Biancardi has carefully beenforging relations with potential
end customers,including Tesla, which hosted the launch of Cobalt Blue's
IPO at its sleek showroom in Sydney's Martin Place.
The IPO also has received an unusual endorsementfrom NSW mining
minister Anthony Roberts and has beenstrongly endorsed by local
government and the state opposition,noted Mr Biancardi, who has held
senior roles at IBM, Citibank and Westpac and has board experience in the
healthcare and services sector.
Just under 10 per cent of Cobalt Blue will be owned by Geoff Hill, who owns 35
per cent of Broken Hill Prospecting,while the offerhas also attracted plenty
of retail interest as well as from social and ethical investment funds, Mr
Biancardi said.