Jervois Global (ASX:JRV) has completed a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Sunshine deposit at its wholly owned Idaho Cobalt Operations (ICO) in the US.
Jervois, which has a market capitalisation of $67.56 million, reports Sunshine hosts an inferred resource of 520,000 tonnes at 0.50% cobalt, 0.68% copper, and 0.49 grams per tonne (g/t) gold at a 0.25% cobalt cut-off grade.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) funded the company US$15 million under the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title 3, which was signed in June 2023.
The company says Sunshine’s inferred resource represents its future potential as additional strategic, domestic US cobalt supply to be processed at ICO’s existing infrastructure.
Drilling completed in 2023 at Sunshine confirmed the validity of ICO’s historic Sunshine dataset across the Sunshine and Sunshine East deposits, and provides confidence in the ability to generate reasonable confidence in developing a quantitatively accurate MRE.
Jervois says by validating the available historic data for Sunshine, ICO is able to maximise its resource expansion efforts under its DPA agreement funding.
Other agreed deliverables with the DoD are currently underway, with underground drilling targeting expansion of the existing RAM mineral deposit, alongside a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) on a US cobalt refinery.
Under the existing agreement, ICO expects to continue drilling operations throughout 2024 to support the updated RAM MRE.
Jervois’ Idaho Cobalt Operations is considered to be a ‘premier’ supply of ethically sourced, sustainably produced American cobalt and — according to the company — is the largest cobalt resource in the US.
Jervois Global is focused on becoming a global supplier of responsibly sourced cobalt and nickel materials to serve the battery and chemicals markets.
As of 31 December 2023, the company had just under $45.37 million in cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Jervois Global
