Cobalt and scandium & Opportunities in New South Wales, Australia Co Sc
FEBRUARY 2021
QUEENSLAND LISMORE Ballina
Tibooburra Lightning Ridge Moree Thomson Yamba Orogen Grafton A I L A R T S U A H T U O S Inverell Bourke Walgett New England Delamerian Orogen Orogen Curnamona Narrabri COFFS HARBOUR Province Armidale
Coonamble Gunnedah Kempsey West Lynn Summervale TAMWORTH Cobar Nyngan PORT MACQUARIE Hurlls Hill Broken Nyngan Scandium Taree Hill Homeville To Adelaide Thackaringa Muswellbrook Lachlan Orogen DUBBO REFERENCE Mudgee Sunrise Owendale Cobalt Flemington NEWCASTLE Occurrence Parkes ORANGE <1 000 t Co BATHURST Murray Basin 1 000 t to 10 000 t Co Cowra 10 000 t to 100 000 t Co SYDNEY Sunrise Deposit Wentworth Adnaree & Griffith Thuddungra Scandium WOLLONGONG 1 000 t to 10 000 t Sc Balranald Goulburn Nyngan-Scandium Deposit WAGGA Bungonia NOWRA WAGGA Cobalt-Scandium CANBERRA Occurrence Deniliquin A.C.T. <1 000 t Co-Sc Batemans Bay N 1 000 t to 10 000 t Co-Sc ALBURY 10 000 t to 100 000 t Co-Sc Cooma Narooma VICTORIA >100 000 t Co-Sc 200 km Owendale Deposit Bega Ultramafic rocks/ Eden serpentinites Export port Railway Major road, sealed Major road, unsealed Gas pipeline Overview Scandium • New South Wales (NSW) has excellent investment Lightweight scandium super alloys are used for aerospace opportunities for cobalt and scandium, which are critical and new high-tech applications, given their excellent strength specialty metals with high supply risk. and corrosion resistant properties. • NSW hosts the world’s sole scandium-only resource. Recent global consumption is 10–15 t per year, mainly from • Cobalt and scandium are key ‘tech metals’ that can add recycling of military airframes and as a by-product of value to nickel and base-metal projects. processing residual ore stockpiles and tailings (source — USGS). Cobalt Geological setting Cobalt is a hard and lustrous metal and is mainly recovered as a by-product of smelting copper, zinc and nickel. About Cobalt occurs naturally as the arsenide Co(As2), known as 36 000 t or 29% of world cobalt production in 2015 was for smaltite or speiss cobalt; as cobalt sulfarsenide CoAsS, known batteries. as cobaltite or cobalt glance; glaucodot (Co,Fe)AsS; and as hydrated arsenate (Co(AsO ) .8H O), known as erythrite or Cobalt demand is increasing for lithium-ion batteries for 4 2 2 cobalt bloom. electric vehicles, various other rechargeable devices, and for super alloys.
resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au Project highlights Contained Contained Deposit name Current resources and reserves cobalt (t) scandium (t) Ardnaree & Thuddungra (indicated) 3.2 Mt @ 0.67% Ni, 0.04% Co 46 330 – (inferred) 90.1 Mt @ 0.63% Ni, 0.05% Co – – Flemington (measured, indicated & inferred) 2.7 Mt @ 0.101% Co, 403 ppm Sc, 2423 ppm Ni 2727 1090 Homeville (Collerina) (indicated & inferred) 17.9 Mt @ 0.89% Ni, 0.06% Co 10 740 – Hurlls Hill Prospect (inferred) 10.8 Mt @ 0.66% Ni, 0.010% Co & 41 ppm Sc 10 765 441 Nyngan scandium project (proved & probable) 1.4 Mt @ 409 ppm Sc – – (measured & indicated) 16.9 Mt @ 235 ppm Sc – 3972 Owendale – Red Heart (measured, indicated & inferred) 35.6 Mt @ 405 ppm Sc, 0.28 g/t Pt, 0.10% Ni, 0.06% Co 20 500 22 000 Sunrise (formerly (measured, indicated & inferred) 101 Mt @ 0.59% Ni, 0.13% Co 132 000 – Syerston) (measured, indicated & inferred) 45.7 Mt @ 421 ppm Sc – 19 222 (proved & probable) 147.4 Mt @ 0.092% Co, 0.56% Ni, 53 ppm Sc – – Thackaringa (Big Hill, (global resource) 123 Mt @ 0.066% Co Pyrite Hill & Railway) (probable) 71.8 Mt @ 0.071% Co 81 180 – West Lynn & Summervale (inferred) 21.3 Mt @ 0.84% Ni, 0.05% Co, 20% Fe, 2.4% Al 10 650 –
World resources Global cobalt production (2020) Cobalt occurs in sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits USA 0.4% Australia 4.2% in Congo (Kinshasa) and Zambia. Cobalt and scandium South Africa 1.3% Russia 4.7% Canada 2.4% commonly occur in lateritic deposits, mainly developed over Philippines 3.5% China1.7% Cuba 2.7% orthomagmatic sulfide deposits and ultramafic and mafic Papua New Guinea 2.1% rocks in Australia, Canada, Russia, and the United States. In Other 4.7% laterite, they are adsorbed into clay minerals — e.g. Ni-Co Morocco 1.4% asbolite (Ni,Co) Mn4+(O,OH) .nH O. 2-x 4 2 Madagascar 0.5% Cobalt is extracted by several processes including flotation, reduction, roasting, with electro-winning being the final stage.
NSW occurrences Cobalt has been produced as a by-product of smelting of Democratic base-metal ore at Broken Hill, manganiferous grits near Republic of the Bungonia and has been produced from laterites near Carcoar Congo 70.4% and Port Macquarie. Extensive deep weathering during the Source: modified fromhttps://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf ‘Tertiary’ period (Paleogene–Neogene) formed numerous laterite-hosted deposits. Global cobalt reserves (2020) NSW hosts over 338 000 t of cobalt. USA 0.7% South Africa 0.6% Russia 3.5% Exploration opportunities Philippines 3.6% Papua New Many prospective areas in NSW await systematic exploration Guinea 0.7% Australia for cobalt and scandium. They include: 19.6% Other 7.9% • nickel–cobalt laterites developed over the Owendale– Morocco 0.2% Syerston, Tout and Alaskan-type Fifield igneous complexes Madagascar 1.4% in the central Lachlan Orogen Canada 3.1% • deeply weathered serpentinites such as the Great China 1.1% Serpentinite Belt (e.g. Port Macquarie deposits), the Coolac Cuba 7.0% Serpentinite Belt and Jindalee Group (Thuddungra) • ultramafic rock sequences under shallow cover • residual manganese–cobalt rich ‘grits’ of Tertiary age near Democratic Republic of the Bungonia, 160 km southwest of Sydney. Congo 50.5%
Tertiary laterite development Source: modified fromhttps://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf Surface Hematitic (pisolitic) clay Scandium-rich Limonitic clay Cobalt-rich Saprolite (smectitic clay) Nickel-rich
10 – 100 m Weathered serpentinite Fresh serpentinite
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© State of New South Wales through Department of Regional NSW 2021. Information presented is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (February 2021) and may not be accurate, current or complete. This product is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).