Formation Metals Inc. has concluded minesite portal bench geotechnical core drilling on its Idaho Cobalt Project, it reported this morning.
The ICP comprises comprised a primary cobalt mine in Lemhi County, near the town of Salmon, and the cobalt production facility in Shoshone County, near Kellogg.
The geotechnical drilling was conducted to acquire data for rock stability studies around the portal bench area.
At the ICP mine site, Radford Langston with Langford & Associates was employed to provide a final design for the portal bench that includes a global stability analysis, recommendations for rock bolting on the high wall and recommendations for ground control to ensure and maintain portal bench stability.
Additional structural data is now being acquired from the three HQ-sized, oriented core holes totaling 575 feet that were recently drilled adjacent to the portal locations. The drilling was performed by A&K Drilling and the core was logged by Langston.
At the production facility, work on the copper SX/EW circuits continued, with the replacement of liners in two large recirculation tanks. Additional new liners are being installed in the copper electrowinning cells, expected to be completed by mid-January. The concrete in the basement of the facility housing the electrowinning circuits is also in the process of being refurbished and re-sealed, Formation said.
Construction activities at both the cobalt minesite and at the cobalt production facility will continue with those activities which are least affected by winter conditions. These include ongoing detailed engineering design, which are now over 90% complete at the minesite.
This work includes the development of a 3D block model for the underground mine. Also at the facility, finalization of operating plans are expected to conclude this week. This will allow for the ramping up of efforts by the engineering firm to complete the detailed engineering for the facility.
