Cobalt Blue tenement application to expand Broken Hill exploration footprint by 70%

Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd’s (ASX:COB) (OTCMKTS:CBBHF) (FRA:COH) wholly-owned subsidiary, Broken Hill Cobalt Project Pty Ltd, has received notice of the proposed grant of Exploration Licence Application 6151. The tenement application comprises around 67 square kilometres and will expand COB’s strategic exploration footprint in the Broken Hill region by around 70%. Reflecting on key outcomes of the Broken Hill Cobalt Project Update Study (July 2020) and the proposed grant of ELA6151, COB’s chief executive officer Joe Kaderavek said: “We are continuing to assess opportunities for further acquisition across the Curnamona Province. “With the current mineral resource inventory supporting a 17-year operation, further consolidation in the region will secure long-term exploration potential.” Shares have been as much as 22% higher to A$0.39 and since closing at A$0.115 on December 21 have been on an upward march, hitting A$0.47 last month. Tenement acquisition strategy Continued consolidation of ground within the Broken Hill region remains a priority for the execution of COB’s long-term exploration strategy targeting discovery and delineation of cobalt mineralisation which is considered to complement the existing mineral resource inventory and proprietary processing pathway of the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP). To date, COB has identified a pipeline of exploration targets providing opportunity to sustain mineral resource growth achieved since 2016. While direct extension of the existing deposits forms an ongoing exploration focus, several targets identified by the 2017 VTEM-Max survey released in 2017 are yet to be tested. Of these, two areas remain a high priority: Pyrite Hill South and Railway South. Pyrite Hill South The Pyrite Hill South targets comprise two conductivity anomalies (BH01 and BH32) broadly coincident with a folded sequence of outcropping quartz-albite gneiss mapped over around 3.5 kilometres of strike. The targets are considered to represent potential strike extensions of the Pyrite Hill deposit, dislocated by a series of northwest-southeast trending faults. Historical workings occur at the western extent of the outcrop where previous rock chip samples obtained from localised gossans returned anomalous assays to a maximum 1,100 parts per million cobalt and 500 parts per million nickel. Railway South The Railway South targets comprise a series of conductivity anomalies (BH03, BH04 and BH18) corresponding to a zone of intermittently outcropping pyritic-quartz-albite gneiss with a combined strike length of around 1.5 kilometres. This prospective outcrop is interpreted to be hosted within the southern limb of the Big Hill Synform, between 250 and 500 metres southeast of the strike parallel Big Hill and Railway deposits. Previous rock chip samples obtained from localised gossans returned anomalous assays to a maximum 650 parts per million cobalt and 410 parts per million nickel. Review of historical exploration In addition to the Pyrite Hill South and Railway South targets, the company is continuing to assess regional prospectivity through a targeted review of historical exploration activities. This includes assessment of prospects yet to be subject to any focused exploration, including the Ram Paddock prospect, about 3.5 kilometres west of the Pyrite Hill deposit. Previous rock chip samples from the prospect area returned anomalous assays to a maximum 1,050 parts per million cobalt and 420 ppm nickel. These priority exploration targets are expected to be subject to future activities as part of COB’s broader work program for the Broken Hill Cobalt Project Feasibility Study.