Legacy Minerals Holdings Ltd (ASX:LGM) has begun the first exploration stages at the NiCo Young Project in New South Wales and signed a non-binding, three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB, OTC:CBBHF) to assess strategic options for cobalt and other products from the project.
Cobalt Blue owns the Broken Hill Cobalt Project and plans to construct and operate the Kwinana Cobalt Refinery in East Rockingham, Western Australia, proposed as a joint venture between Cobalt Blue (70%) and Iwatani Australia (30%).
“Legacy Minerals has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with Cobalt Blue. This is a significant step for the Nico Young Project towards assessing potential pathways towards commercialisation. Cobalt Blue, which holds the Broken Hill Cobalt Deposit and is developing the Kwinana Cobalt Refinery, not only possesses expertise in these types of ores but also has strategically positioned itself to potentially refine this type of ore in the future,” Legacy Minerals CEO and managing director Christopher Byrne said.
“The companies propose to evaluate the opportunities for commercialisation of nickel-cobalt from the NiCo Young deposit, which would align with Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy and the Commonwealth Government’s ‘A Future Made in Australia’ ambitions.”
Aiming for resource growth
NiCo Young is owned 100% by Legacy Minerals and hosts an estimated Mineral Resource of 167.8 million tonnes (t) at 0.59% nickel (Ni) and 0.06% cobalt (Co) at a 0.6% nickel equivalent (NiEq) cut-off under the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code (2012), representing about 1 million tonnes of contained nickel and 100,000 tonnes of contained cobalt.
Nico Young 2017 Inferred Resource at a 0.6% NiEq cut-off.
As part of a scandium (Sc) workstream, Legacy’s review of historical work has identified a JORC 2004 scandium resource declared in 2011 that is not included in the latest resource.
Next steps include a detailed literature review, dedicated scandium assaying, potential metallurgical leach tests, and a scandium domaining study to determine whether discrete, near-surface resources can be reported. In the Lachlan Fold Belt, significant nickel-cobalt-scandium deposits include Sunrise and Syerston (Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd, ASX:SRL), which together host a global scandium resource of 19,007t.
One of the largest nickel-cobalt deposits
Legacy Minerals secured the Nico Young Project in May 2025 after the administrators of Jervois relinquished the project’s exploration tenure, enabling Legacy to apply for a new exploration licence over the untenured ground (exploration licence application EL9804).
The project was secured with no associated liabilities, encumbrances or private royalties. Nico Young is currently among the four largest nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) deposits identified in New South Wales, alongside Sunrise, Platina/Burra (Rio Tinto, RIO:ASX) and Melrose (Rimfire, RIM:ASX).
Location of major nickel-cobalt-scandium deposits and occurrences in NSW.