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F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 7
COBALT: NO SUBSTITUTE
by Peter Clausi
WHILE LITHIUM GRABBED world
headlines in 2016, its battery-partner
cobalt quietly gained roughly 50% on the
year. The ballooning price was driven by
Economics 101: demand greatly exceeded
supply. It is expected this will continue in
2017 and beyond.
Roughly 55% of the world's cobalt
comes from the Congo, as a trace by-prod
-
uct of copper mining. It is not possible
to mine only the cobalt. With the hor-
rible war in the Congo having claimed at
least six million lives, copper production
declined in 2016, taking cobalt production
with it. As reported in December 2016 by
the Congo's central bank, "Production of
cobalt, the metal used in lithium-ion bat
-
teries and of which Congo is the world's
leading producer, slipped 0.8% to 21,493
tonnes in the third quarter and is down
9% so far this year."
Cobalt production is also slated to fall
from the Philippines as cobalt-bearing
nickel mines there are shut-in for environ
-
mental reasons.
On the supply side, only one new source
of cobalt claims to be coming on stream in
2017 (from Katanga Mining Ltd. [KAT-
TSX], again in the Congo). Katanga claims
it will increase its production of cobalt
roughly 10 times to roughly 22% of
global supply, a claim that is difficult to
understand, not only because of normal
logistical mine production issues but also
for its location in conflict Africa.
In North America, the only viable near-
term cobalt play is eCobalt Solutions Inc.
[ECS-TSX], with a deposit in south Idaho
Industrial Commodities
Outlook
INDUSTRIAL METALS AND MINERAL COMMODITIES MAY NOT HAVE THE GLAMOUR OF GOLD OR DIAMONDS
BUT THEY ARE JUST AS DESIRABLE. THEY ARE A NECESSITY
