The Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: COB) share price is making strong gains today as the company announced the start of its pilot trial. Shares in the exploration company are currently trading 3.8% higher to 41 cents.
What Cobalt Blue does
Cobalt Blue is primarily involved in exploration, however, it also undertakes project development. On this front, the company is working towards its Broken Hill project in New South Wales.
It sees itself as a green company thanks to its interest in cobalt generation. It is a strategic metal with strong demand used in batteries, gaining traction as the demand for electric vehicles rises. However, as outlined by the company its "ambitious goals are subject to funding availability".
The small cap currently boasts a market capitalisation of $104 million.
What Happened
Today, Cobalt Blue announced that its pilot plant commissioning plant is well underway. With the first cobalt samples expected shortly.
Following the first samples there will be an independent assay, and then shipments starting in late March.
Moreover, the company outlined that is has secured over 30 partners from around the world. These partners include the company's from Europe, India, the US, China, and Australia. Notably, there is one partner that is requesting a particularly large sample so that they are able to test if the product is worthy of being an approved supplier. However, these qualifications will take at the very least 12 months to be verified.
Management Comments
Speaking about the program Cobalt Blue's CEO Joe Kaderavek, said:
With commissioning underway then kicking off our expanded global Cobalt Sample Program later this month, Cobalt Blue is making tremendous strides towards technical and commercial milestones.
