ASX-listed Tiger Resources has commissioned a study by independent consultant, Mintrex Pty Ltd, to investigate the economic viability of producing cobalt at its Kipoi project. Kipoi is located 75 km north-west of Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga Province, in the central part of the Katanga Copperbelt in the DRC.
Tiger has a resource of 40 400 tonnes of measured and indicated and 5 600 tonnes of inferred cobalt across the Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, Kileba and Judeira deposits at its Kipoi project. There are additional cobalt resources at the nearby Sase Central deposit, where Tiger has defined 5 000 tonnes of indicated and 1 000 tonnes of inferred cobalt.
The Kipoi project is located in the heart of the Katanga Copperbelt (photo: Tiger Resources).
The Mintrex study is expected to take three months to complete and will examine Tiger’s potential processing pathways, with Mintrex to recommend options for future metallurgical testwork.
Tiger Chief Executive Officer Michael Griffiths said the growing global demand for cobalt had encouraged the company to examine if it could economically convert its resources to a saleable product.
“Cobalt is used in many industries, but its demand is increasing mostly due to its use in batteries and super alloys,” he said. “Tiger is in a position to capitalise on this with our known resource at Kipoi and a strong operating and production record.”
Tiger currently produces approximately 26 000 tonnes of copper cathode per year from the Kipoi project and is currently undertaking debottlenecking works at the plant to increase production capacity at Kipoi to 32 500 tonnes per year.
