Conico is set to feed more thick high-grade nickel-cobalt-manganese-scandium hits into an imminent updated mineral resource estimate on its Mt Thirsty nickel-cobalt project near the Western Australian town of Norseman.
Recent drilling has pulled up a clutch of significant hits including 10m running at 0.09 per cent cobalt, 0.71 per cent nickel, 0.38 per cent manganese and 23 grams per tonne scandium. The headline intercept is housed in a broader 44m find averaging 0.03 per cent cobalt, 0.47 per cent nickel, 0.16 per cent manganese and 39.2 grams per tonne scandium from only 2m downhole.
A further 59m returned 0.05 per cent cobalt, 0.37 per cent nickel, 0.35 per cent manganese and 45.3g/t scandium from 10m and housed a higher-grade 11m intercept of 0.18 per cent cobalt, 0.45 per cent nickel, 1.15 per cent manganese and 49.7g/t scandium.
Mt Thirsty is a 50-50 joint venture between Conico and Greenstone Resources. The JV duo has peppered nearly 6000m of RC and diamond drilling into the shallow oxide resource that currently holds 26.9 million tonnes at 0.126 per cent cobalt, 0.54 per cent nickel and 0.8 per cent manganese.
Conico is in the throes of updating its scoping study, where it is assessing the impacts of adding high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) and a cathode precursor plant.
The company recently reported the additions will substantially improve project processing costs per tonne, metal recoveries, revenue and product value by at least 50 per cent.
Additionally, management believes scandium found in recent drilling at Mt Thirsty also has the potential to form a valuable by-product. It said HPAL testwork will assess the possibility of scandium recovery, but it did not yet have enough data to include the critical mineral in the updated resource estimate.
Scandium is a rare earth “tech” metal which is finding increasing use in aerospace, defence and electronics industries due to its high strength, light weight and resistance to corrosion.
The global scandium market was valued at US$460 million (A$684 million) in 2021. It is projected to reach a bulging US$977 million (A$1.45 billion) by 2030.
Conico executive director, Guy LePage said: “The project is uniquely positioned to support the continued decarbonisation or our economy, not only containing cobalt and nickel, but also host manganese and scandium, allowing the project to potentially produce a high-value pCAM product containing cobalt, nickel and manganese sourced from the Mt Thirsty deposit.”
Conico also believes the addition of a cathode precursor plant to produce a Precursor Cathode Active Material (pCAM) has the potential to increase pricing by 50 per cent for intermediatory products previously considered in its prefeasibility study (PFS).
Management believes Mt Thirsty’s unique blend of nickel-cobalt-manganese positions the project perfectly to produce the preferred 811 nickel-cobalt-manganese pCAM product (eight parts nickel, one part cobalt and one part manganese). The company says pCAM is an essential precursor product for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries.
Following the release of a fresh set of numbers at Mt Thirsty, Conico expects its updated scoping study and associated project economics to be released by the middle of July.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Helen Barling
