Understanding the feedstock question and transportation cost Good morning all. Wondering if anyone on this board might be able to point me to a presentation or other materials to help me understand the relationship of cobalt ore to our end product cobalt sulfate. I'm interested in it visually, but moreso in the weight/volume of the products at various stages.
The refinery study https://www.firstcobalt.com/_resources/reports/First-Cobalt-Refinery-AACE-Feasibilit-Study-July-9-2020.pdf is pretty daunting for the uninitiated. However, in smaller chunks over time it makes sense. It brings much clarity to the relationship of cobalt hydroxide feedstock to our cobalt sulfate finished product even for someone outside the industry. In the interest of further understanding of the supply chain, how does the rock coming out of the ground become cobalt hydroxide feedstock? What are the ratios along the same lines of cobalt hydroxide to cobalt sulfate? Where and how is it done?
Above is driven by one of my initial concerns - out of ignorance. It was the thought that moving tonnes of feedstock around the globe wouldn't make economic sense. I know others were perhaps harbouring similar concerns. However, I'm thinking this really isn't a concern at all.
First, transportation appears to be about 1% or less of the material cost anyway. Second, while annually tens of thousands of tonnes of cobalt hydroxide is going to needed to be transported to the facility (in 1 tonne bags, with ~5 days of 55 tonnes per day of on-site storage) this is significantly less mass than other products required in the refining. It is also less than the mass of the finished product being shipped out. The reagants (sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and more) are 3 times the mass. Surprisingly (again due to ignorance) the cobalt sulfate final product is estimated at an output of 25,000 tpa, which is also greater mass than the feedstock input. I would welcome any informed corrections.
In other words transportation costs do not appear to me to be an out of the ordinary cost, or a cost of concern. One would still think that mining and production of cobalt hydroxide in closer proximity to the refinery could be of benefit, but it might not be that much of a transportation cost related benefit.
Thanks for any insight.