DR Congo Ends Export Ban

The Democratic Republic of Congo will end its 7-month ban on cobalt exports (intended to reduce the glut on global supply) on October 17th, replacing it with quotas.  

Market intelligence firm Project Blue said the move will push the cobalt market from "surplus to shortage" given the demand from electric vehicles.

A great deal of cobalt supply in Congo comes from unregulated artisanal mining. This creates compliance and traceability issues for global buyers. This has also been the subject of the book Cobalt Red, which asserts that industrial and artisanal mining output are inextricably intertwined.

Cobalt's specific role in the energy transition is in the cathodes for lithium-ion batteries.

Greenland Holds Promise of Rare Earths

Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, is being eyed by the United States as a source of rare earths that could reduce reliance on China. It has the world's eighth largest store of rare earths. It also has supplies of key energy transition metals like lithium and cobalt. While Greenland has oil and gas deposits, new drilling for these resources is banned. Three quarters of the land is covered by ice sheet.

The Cobalt Rush

Mining companies (such as Canadian FirstCobalt)  are looking at sites in Idaho, Montana and Alaska in search of cobalt, a key component of lithium ion batteries used in electronic devices and electric cars (consumption of which is expected to rise 8%-10% per year). 

The DRC (capital city Kinshasa) is currently the largest producer of cobalt. Australia is the other big producer.

Having new sources of the mineral will diversify cobalt consumers' geopolitical risk. There is currently research (e.g. at UCB) into batteries that do not require large amounts of cobalt (Materials Science and Engineering). 

The Cobalt Institute exists to promote sustainable and responsible use of cobalt.