The results allow the company to complete its optimised feasibility study for the ICP, which is slated for publication before October.

Conducted by Hazen Research, the testwork confirmed the arsenic removal process to produce a clean cobalt concentrate from ICP ore concentrates using rotary kiln roasting methods.

The company said concentrate was fed for 50 continuous hours with process temperatures, pressures, and the flow rates maintained throughout the test according to design specifications.

Importantly, the results validate feasibility-level detailed engineering of the simplified flowsheet for the cobalt production facility, and is expected to help reduce overall project capital and operating costs.

President and CEO Paul Farquharson says the results from the pilot testing have provided a high degree of confidence to produce a clean, high-value cobalt concentrate for potential off-take partners, which would help to further advance current discussions.

"With these results, we will now proceed with finalisation of the optimised feasibility study, which also incorporates data from the optimised mine plan and the February updated resource model into a new mineral reserve estimate. The successful conclusion to the pilot work achieves a key milestone in our development of the ICP into North America's first primary cobalt producer," he said.

The stock gained C6c each on Tuesday in Toronto, closing at C76c. The equity had lost more than 61% in value since the start of the year, giving the company a current market valuation of about C$121.63 million.