Key points
- Cobalt Blue has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mount Isa City Council to explore turning mine tailings into sulfuric acid, which is facing a supply shortage in the region.
- ReMine+ manager Dr Helen Degeling says tailings dams contain sulfide minerals that can be processed into sulfuric acid, needed for copper oxide heat leaching and the vanadium industry around Julia Creek.
- The company is not currently receiving state or federal funding; it plans to use scoping data to build a case for government support.
- Degeling says Queensland’s mining and environmental laws are built around traditional dig-and-process mining and make it difficult to carry out remining of existing tailings.
