Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: COB)Share Price and News
About Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Blue's primary focus is developing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP) in New South Wales. This project is designed to produce high-purity cobalt sulphate, a key material used in lithium-ion batteries. It has a Mineral Resource estimate of 126.5Mt at 867ppm cobalt equivalent.
Beyond BHCP, the company is progressing the Kwinana Cobalt-Nickel Refinery Project in Western Australia and trialling a tailings recovery initiative through its ReMine program. Kwinana has an initial capacity of 3,000t cobalt sulphate and 500t of nickel and is planned to start production in 2027.
These assets collectively represent an integrated strategy across exploration, refining, and recycling of critical minerals, particularly cobalt.
Cobalt Blue's Company History
Founded in 2016, Cobalt Blue Holdings was established to develop Australia’s first large-scale cobalt project. Over time, the company has expanded its focus from BHCP to include downstream refining and recycling technologies.
The company released a PFS for BHCP in 2020, and in 2022 it secured federal Government recognition as a major project and received substantial grant funding for pilot and demonstration plants. But the oversupply of cobalt saw the company have to scale back its project due to an oversupply of cobalt.
In early 2025, Cobalt Blue proposed changing its name to Core Blue Minerals to better reflect its broader focus on multiple commodities, including nickel and manganese, as well as cobalt. This did not go through, although it diversified its portfolio with a 51% earn-in agreement for the Halls Creek copper-zinc-silver project in the Kimberley. The company also pivoted downstream to focus in its Kwinana refinery.
Future Outlook of Cobalt Blue (ASX: COB)
Cobalt Blue's near-term trajectory will be defined almost entirely by whether its Kwinana Cobalt Refinery (KCR) reaches a Final Investment Decision in the first half of 2026.
The project has made material progress: a binding pre-FID Consortium Deed was signed with Japanese battery minerals trader Iwatani Corporation in April 2025, under which Iwatani will hold a 30% stake; Glencore signed a three-year feedstock supply agreement in May 2025 covering up to 50% of the refinery's cobalt hydroxide requirements, sourced from its world-class DRC operations; and the Western Australian Government issued a Works Approval permit in September 2025.
In March 2026, the company confirmed its refinery design is capable of producing battery-grade cobalt sulphate meeting all trace-metal specifications — the final key technical milestone before FID.
The project's financial case has also improved significantly. Following a sharp cobalt price rebound — driven in part by the DRC's temporary export ban in early 2025, which pushed prices up 65% from record lows — Cobalt Blue upgraded its base-case NPV to A$155 million at an IRR of 32%.
Remaining pre-FID steps are finalising binding offtake agreements and assembling the debt financing package, with export credit agency and bank discussions expected to conclude through H1 2026. Stage 1 production is designed to deliver 3,000 tonnes of cobalt per year from a combined Stage 1 and 2 capital cost of A$83 million.
Is COB a Good Stock to Buy?
Cobalt Blue is a high-risk, high-optionality play for investors with conviction in the cobalt market and patience for a development timeline that has repeatedly slipped.
The honest assessment is that the company has been building toward a Final Investment Decision for several years, and has not yet crossed the line. It remains pre-revenue, carries accumulated operating losses, and is dependent on continued equity issuances to fund overheads, it closed its December 2025 quarter with an oversubscribed A$5.3 million placement, a sign of continued investor support but also of ongoing cash consumption.
Against that, the bull case is genuinely compelling. Cobalt Blue would operate Australia's first and only dedicated cobalt refinery, supplying a market that is structurally undersupplied outside the DRC and China. Its Glencore feedstock deal derisk the supply side materially. The Iwatani partnership provides a credible Japanese industrial anchor.
The upgraded NPV of A$155 million compares favourably to a current market capitalisation of approximately A$85–100 million, implying the market is still sceptical about execution. The cobalt price recovery is real but fragile — any reversal tied to DRC supply returning at scale would weigh heavily on project economics.
Cobalt Blue suits only speculative investors comfortable with pre-FID binary risk, but for those who believe the energy transition narrative and the West's push to build cobalt supply chains outside China, it remains one of the most credible plays on the ASX.
Our Stock Analysis
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Frequently Asked Questions
Cobalt Blue Holdings does not currently offer a dividend yield, as the company is in the development phase. All available capital is being reinvested into advancing its cobalt projects and related infrastructure.