Market cap: AU$69.89 million
Share price: AU$0.34

Ardea Resources' primary focus is developing its wholly owned Kalgoorlie nickel project, which the company says “hosts the largest nickel-cobalt resource in the developed world.” Located in Western Australia, the project includes the Goongarrie Hub deposit.

A 2023 prefeasibility study shows that the Goongarrie Hub has an ore reserve of 194.1 million tonnes at 0.05 percent cobalt and 0.7 percent nickel, resulting in 99,000 tonnes of contained cobalt and 1.36 million tonnes of contained nickel. The study indicates that this resource would support an open-pit mining operation with a 40 year mine life and annual output of 2,000 tonnes of cobalt and 30,000 tonnes of nickel.

In late March, the company shared that a detailed hydrogeology drilling program had commenced to quantify long-term water supply.

Ardea is now working on a definitive feasibility study (DFS), with funding from its strategic partners Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. (TSE:5713) and Mitsubishi (TSE:8058). The DFS is slated for completion in the second half of 2025.

Market cap: AU$34.37 million
Share price: AU$0.069

Cobalt Blue Holdings focuses solely on cobalt and is enthusiastic about the metal’s ethical and environmental potential within the renewable energy market. The company owns the New South Wales-based Broken Hill project, a cobalt asset that it says adheres to Australian labour and sustainability standards, and is planning the Kwinana cobalt-nickel refinery.

In November 2023, Cobalt Blue released the results of its cobalt-nickel refinery study. During Stage 1, the proposed refinery would process third-party feedstock and have a capacity of 3,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate per year, along with 1,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate annually. Stage 2 would have the option to include potential feedstock from Broken Hill. The study projects stable margins throughout potential cobalt price fluctuations.

A few days later, the company announced that its potential partner for the refinery is Iwatani (TSE:8088), a battery minerals trader. According to Cobalt Blue, if everything goes through as planned, the refinery will be constructed on Iwatani's property in Western Australia's Kwinana industrial area.

Cobalt Blue provided another update on the refinery in early October, reporting that construction is set to commence in the first half of 2025, with completion expected within 12 months.

Market cap: AU$29.73 million
Share price: AU$0.011

Jervois Global is focused on producing battery minerals, with a specific emphasis on cobalt. Jervois boasts operations worldwide and hopes to become the only cobalt miner in the US at its Idaho Cobalt Operation (ICO).

In mid-2023, the company won US$15 million from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to fund drilling at ICO as well as a bankable feasibility study for construction of a US cobalt refinery. Resource drilling began at the Sunshine deposit at the ICO project shortly after, while work on a bankable feasibility study for the cobalt refinery was launched last October. The company hopes to complete the study in Q4 2024.

DoD-funded resource-extension drilling at the RAM deposit kicked off in March of this year. The following month, Jervois completed its maiden JORC-compliant resource estimate for the Sunshine deposit as part of its deliverables under the DoD funding agreement.

The deposit hosts inferred resources of 520,000 tonnes at 0.5 percent cobalt, 0.68 percent copper and 0.49 grams per tonne gold at a cut-off-grade of 0.25 percent cobalt, for 5.75 million pounds of contained cobalt.The company hopes to complete a bankable feasibility study in Q4 2024.

In June, Jervois inked a memorandum of understanding with current customer Global Tungsten & Powders to evaluate the latter potentially making a minority equity investment in Jervois’ proposed US cobalt refinery. The company announced in October that it is on track to complete the bankable feasibility study for the refinery in Q4 2024.

Market cap: AU$18.22 million
Share price: AU$0.225

Norway-focused Kuniko is targeting three metals key for the EV industry: cobalt, nickel and copper. The majority of its assets are in Norway, including its Skuterud cobalt project, Undal-Nyberget copper project and Ringerike battery metals project. Ringerike hosts the past-producing Ertelien nickel-copper-cobalt target.

In its quarterly report for September 2023, Kuniko highlighted significant developments, including an investment of AU$7.8 million by Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), which acquired a 19.99 percent interest in Kuniko and secured a 35 percent offtake for future production of nickel and cobalt sulphate from Kuniko's Norwegian projects for nine years.

In April, the company released a maiden resource estimate for Ertelien showing 23.3 million tonnes of inferred resources containing 49,700 tonnes of nickel, 37,300 tonnes of copper and 3,300 tonnes of cobalt, including high-grade sulphide resources of 4.59 million tonnes at 0.03 percent cobalt and disseminated sulphide resources of 18.68 million tonnes of 0.01 percent cobalt.

Kuniko undertook a second phase expansion drill program over the summer at Ertelien. “Our aim is to demonstrate progress towards developing a Voisey Bay style resource as a potential new source of critical battery metals for European industries,” Kuniko CEO Antony Beckmand stated. The assay results were published in September, and will be incorporated into an updated resource estimate to be published in Q4 2024.