Four pilot plant campaigns in respect of roast reduction-ammonical leaching route and supportive experiments in the leaching and solvent extraction were carried out through the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur [NML(J)]. Cobalt recovery from cobalt bearing cake was carried out after process development and standardisation at Uranium & Rare Earths Extraction Division (URED) of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Bombay.

Three pilot plant campaigns in respect of sulphur-di-oxide ammonical leach route and supportive experiments in leaching and solvent extraction, were carried out through the Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar [RRL(B)].

Acid leach-pressure leach route laboratory scale experiments were carried out with 5 litre autoclave at Hindustan Zinc Limited, Udaipur [HZL(U)]. Action plan was initiated to evaluate the results of these water process developments and design a pilot scale continuously operating plant with a capacity of 500 Kilogram per day to establish the process parameters, for scale up and techno-economic feasibility studies.