Key points
- Cobalt Blue has formed a consortium with US-based Glomar Minerals to build a processing plant for polymetallic nodules from the Clarion Clipperton Zone, using exploration licenses that trace back to Lockheed Martin’s 1980s deep-sea nodule program.
- The plan calls for a 200,000-ton nodule processing plant in the US, producing roughly 40,000 tons of manganese sulfate, 1,000-2,000 tons of cobalt, and about 1,000 tons each of nickel and copper.
- Cobalt Blue will spend the next 18 months on a Glomar-funded feasibility study, drawing on its Broken Hill Technology Center, where prior test work recovered over 90% of the manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper into solution.
- Glomar is targeting a plant start-up around the end of 2028 or start of 2029, likely on the US Gulf Coast, and Cobalt Blue says the agreement requires no near-term capital contribution from the company.
