The Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: COB) share price has taken a hit these past few weeks.
After a strong start to 2022 – shares are up 60% this year to date – the Cobalt Blue share price swept 10% into the red during April.
In the first part of this week, the shares fell another 12% between Friday's close and Wednesday's close. However, they have rebounded today and are currently up 6.67% at 80 cents.
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What's been happening at Cobalt Blue?
April was a fairly quiet month for the miner. Early on, investors bid up its share price amid an update to its Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP), released the month earlier.
By that time, Cobalt Blue had surged 79% in the month to April 5, propelled by a substantial lunge in the price of cobalt.
These pricing strengths have extended into today's market, holding the line at over $80,000 per tonne.
"Cobalt futures were hovering above the $80,000 per tonne level in May, their highest since June 2018 and up 16% this year and around amid continued strong demand from the electric vehicle sector," Trading Economics reports.
On the supply side, cobalt production has been pushed to its limits as any nation producing electronics is a cobalt buyer. On top of that, mounting sanctions on Russia, which account for roughly 4% of the world's cobalt production, for invading Ukraine intensified concerns over the commodity's supply.
Aside from that, the company was awarded a $15 million critical minerals accelerator initiative grant in late April, after a relatively quiet month.
"The Broken Hill Cobalt Project has received a significant boost by being awarded $15 million via the Australian Government's Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative," chairman Rob Baincardi said.
"We applaud the Australian Government's support in assisting mid-stage critical minerals projects overcome the substantial technical, regulatory and financial barriers for the establishment of greenfield projects such as the BHCP."
That announcement came a day after the company's quarterly activities and cash flow report.
Cobalt Blue share price snapshot
The Cobalt Blue share price has soared 128% higher in the last 12 months of trade, although has struggled in more recent times.
Over the past month, shares have slipped 20%, coming off a three-month high of $1.03 on 4 April.
