First Cobalt kicks off a well-funded exploration program at its Iron Creek cobalt-copper project in Idaho

First Cobalt Corp (CVE:FCC) (OTCQX:FTSSF) (FRA:18P) said it has kicked off a $2.5 million exploration program at its wholly-owned Iron Creek cobalt-copper project in Idaho. The Toronto-based company, which aims to be a sustainable producer of battery materials, said its objective is to “double the size of its resource” over the next two drill seasons as interest grows in a US domestic cobalt supply to support a growing electric vehicle market. Located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt, the Iron Creek project is one of the few primary cobalt deposits in the world. To date, cobalt and copper resources have been defined by drilling over a 900-metre strike extent and the deposit remains open to the east and west along strike as well as down-dip. The Idaho Cobalt Belt contains the largest primary resources of cobalt in the United States, according to the US Geological Survey. READ: First Cobalt's unaudited 1Q results show it has $16M in cash and working capital of $20.2M The company said that it would deploy its $2.5 million budget towards a total of 4,500 metres of drilling. The primary focus of drilling will be to test the western and eastern extensions to the Iron Creek deposit identified in IP-Resistivity surveys and potentially other targets on the property. “Drilling will also test geophysical anomalies similar to the signature of the Iron Creek deposit to identify new zones of mineralization,” said the company. Fieldwork now underway consists of bedrock geological mapping as well as geochemical surveys specifically covering the recently acquired West Fork Property. The firm also highlighted that geophysical surveys are planned covering the Ruby Zone area and eastward to the Redcastle Property to identify new drill targets. "Cobalt demand for electric vehicles is projected to increase more than 250% by 2025 and Idaho is believed to be America's best opportunity to develop a domestic supply of this critical mineral," First Cobalt CEO Trent Mell said in a statement. "With our Canadian refinery expansion underway, we are turning our attention to our flagship mineral project in Idaho. Drilling aims to extend the cobalt and copper mineralization at Iron Creek and test for new mineralization at nearby targets that could result in additional resources on the property.” Significantly, First Cobalt owns North America's only permitted cobalt refinery, a critical asset in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and next-generation North American electrified consumer and industrial applications. The company remains on schedule to commission its expanded refinery, which will make it the only refiner of battery-grade cobalt sulfate in North America and the second-largest outside of China. Mell noted that the Biden Administration has made several announcements that support domestic mining of critical minerals such as cobalt in order to secure and shorten America's supply chains. “First Cobalt and our Idaho mineral assets are extremely well-positioned to support the Administration's ambitions in these areas. Several new initiatives have been declared to reduce permitting timelines by prioritizing mining-related applications and allocated funding toward innovative mining projects that reduce environmental impacts,” said Mell. “Our Iron Creek assets can help the US on two of its most important policy files: reducing climate change and securing critical minerals for American industry." Drilling will start at the eastern portion of the deposit along strike of some of the highest grade cobalt intercepts: 0.45% Cobalt (Co) and 2.07% Copper (Cu) over 9.4 meters (m) (ICS18-02), as well as 0.44% Co and 0.19% Cu over 14.7m (ICS18-05). The company said primary targets for the drilling program have been interpreted from “chargeability-resistivity anomalies” on strike with the Iron Creek cobalt-copper deposit. High chargeability zones east of the Iron Creek deposit are interpreted to reflect extensions of the mineralization that can be traced over 300m in strike length. Drill holes planned at the Ruby Zone 1.5 kilometers to the south of Iron Creek will target the extension of cobalt-copper mineralization exposed at surface. The Ruby Zone mineralization exposed at surface has not previously been drilled. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive