Celsius' cobalt EPLs renewed until 2020

Jo-Maré Duddy – The ministry of mines and energy has renewed Celsius Resources’ Exclusive Prospecting Licences 4346 and 4540 until 17 September 2020, the company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), said in a statement.EPL 4346 is the key licence for the Opuwo Cobalt Project.“We are grateful that the Namibian ministry of mines and energy has seen fit to renew EPL 4346 for a period of two years, until September, 2020, whilst waiving the requirement to relinquish a portion of the licence area. This will allow the company to further explore the wider potential of this licence area over the next two years,” said the managing director of Celsius, Brendan Borg.Celsius said the ministry accepted the application for licence renewal without partial relinquishment due to the company’s significant exploration expenditure not only for exploration and development on the Opuwo Cobalt Project, but also considering regional scale prospecting activities.According to Celsius’ latest half-year results, the company spent about 1.1 million Australian dollars on the Opuwo Cobalt Project until the end of 2017. At yesterday’s exchange rate, that translates to about N$11.4 million.The Opuwo Project contains the current JORC Compliant Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 112.4 million tonnes, grading 0.11% cobalt, 0.41% copper and 0.43% zinc, at a cut-off grade of 0.06% cobalt.Celsius said its two other EPLs, 4350 and 4351, remain current and are due for renewal next June. All licences comprising the Opuwo Project have been transferred to the company’s 95% owned Namibian subsidiary, Gecko Cobalt Mining.Rechargeable batteriesAccording to its website, Celsius is focused on cobalt projects and is looking to strategically add projects with the potential to contribute metals and materials into the construction and usage of batteries.“Currently around 40% of all cobalt produced is used to make rechargeable batteries. This number is expected to increase to 55% within two years. Cobalt is an essential element in lithium-ion batteries and is a vital material in the rapidly expanding rechargeable battery and Electric Vehicle (EV) markets,” Celsius says.Celsius expects demand for cobalt-containing batteries to rise rapidly in coming years as sales of plug in hybrid and fully electric vehicles increases.In an interview with Reuters last year, Borg said Celsius, which made Namibia's first cobalt discovery, aimed to start production from in 2020.Borg also said there were possibilities to produce cobalt sulphate, which is used in battery production, in Namibia for export. Acid used in the uranium industry can also be utilised in cobalt processing."There is good acid production capacity in Namibia at the moment, it is underutilised because of the downturn in the uranium industry," Borg told Reuters at the time.Production could take place at the mine site or in the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, he said. – Own report and Nampa/Reuters

Celsius' cobalt EPLs renewed until 2020

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Celsius' cobalt EPLs renewed until 2020

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