A proposed polymetallic nodule refinery that’s eyeing Brunswick County as a potential location could bring up to $500 million in investment and around 300 jobs to the area, according to Andrew Tong, CEO of Cobalt Blue Holdings LLC, one of the companies behind the project.
Cobalt Blue Holdings, an Australian minerals-processing and mining company, and its project partner, American critical-minerals company Glomar Minerals LLC, announced last week that Brunswick County is one of four U.S. locations shortlisted for the refinery location. Sites in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and the New Orleans area also made the list. The facility would be the first polymetallic nodule processing facility in the country, if constructed.
Over the last 10 years, according to Tong, Cobalt Blue has developed a patented minerals processing technology in Australia, primarily focused on refining cobalt, among other metals such as manganese, copper and nickel. Cobalt Blue, which trades on the Australian Securities Exchange as COB, is currently advancing a mine and commercial refinery in Western Australia…