Norilsk Nickel to launch industrial production of commercial cobalt by 2016

The specialists of the Kola mining and smelting company (entity of GMK “Norilsk Nickel”) will soon complete the development of commercial high-grade cobalt production technology on an industrial scale. The production is going to be the only one in Russia, the company’s press-service states.

Investments into the project made up more than 2 billion roubles. They plan to receive finished metal in a number of days. The “cobalt production” project is a strategic one for Norilsk Nickel and KGMK. “It considers creation of Russia’s only industrial production of high-quality and competitive in the world market product, electrolyte cobalt of high grade,” they stated in the press-service of the company.

Cobalt production will be based on chloride extraction-electrolysis technology, developed by the specialists of the company together with the scientists of the Institute “Gipronickel”. The technology of production of electrolytic cobalt has been tested at the pilot-plant equipment, established in the Kola GMK in 2000.