Cobalt Blue has secured a US$150,000 contract to deliver key technical work for Glomar Minerals’ planned US polymetallic nodule refinery. The work takes Project Infinity into a formal Preliminary Economic Analysis, although the project remains at an early evaluation stage and its cost estimates carry a wide accuracy range.
- US$150,000 Project Infinity study contract
- Metallurgical testwork and hydrometallurgical flowsheet design
- Four US processing sites under assessment
- PEA targeted for completion in Q4 2026
- AACE Class V estimates carry ±30% to 50% accuracy range
Cobalt Blue Formalises Project Infinity Role
Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited (ASX:COB; OTC: CBBHF) has turned its technical involvement in Project Infinity into a contracted assignment, with consortium partner Glomar Minerals LLC paying US$150,000 for work on a planned US polymetallic nodule refinery. The agreement gives Cobalt Blue a defined role in the project’s Preliminary Economic Analysis, targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The contract is strategically more notable than its dollar value. Cobalt Blue will apply its proprietary hydrometallurgical processing technology at the Broken Hill Technology Centre to samples of seabed nodules, with the proposed refinery designed to recover manganese, copper, nickel and cobalt. The company says the engagement formalises initial work programs already under way between the consortium partners.
Flowsheet, Costing and US Site Work
The contracted scope covers metallurgical development, preliminary process flowsheet design, capital and operating cost estimates, and site-layout and infrastructure requirements. Cobalt Blue will also assist in identifying technical, commercial and regulatory risks and opportunities as Glomar evaluates potential US locations.
Four sites are currently under assessment. The project’s preliminary cost estimates will be prepared to AACE Class V standard, which the announcement describes as carrying an approximate accuracy range of plus or minus 30% to 50%. That qualification matters: the PEA is intended to test whether the concept is technically and economically feasible, not to establish a firm development budget.
Early-Stage Project With Multiple Gates Ahead
Project Infinity aims to integrate the harvesting, processing and sale of minerals from polymetallic nodules in the United States. Glomar’s wholly owned UK Seabed Resources subsidiary holds two exploration contracts covering 133,000 square kilometres in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific, while Cobalt Blue brings process-development capability and the Broken Hill testing facility to the consortium.
The immediate milestones are the testwork results, selection of a preferred US site and delivery of the PEA in Q4 2026. Beyond those steps, the project remains exposed to technical and commercial outcomes, funding availability, environmental and regulatory approvals, and other third-party approvals. For Cobalt Blue, the study offers a modest near-term revenue contribution and a chance to demonstrate its processing technology on a new feedstock, but it does not yet amount to a construction commitment or confirmed project economics.
Bottom Line?
The Q4 PEA should provide the first meaningful test of whether Project Infinity can move from an attractive critical-minerals concept toward an investable US refinery proposal.
Questions in the middle?
- What recovery rates and product specifications will Cobalt Blue’s nodule testwork demonstrate?
- Which of the four US sites will emerge as the preferred location, and what infrastructure advantages will it offer?
- Can the consortium secure the funding, environmental approvals and regulatory permissions needed beyond the PEA?