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Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a
politically unstable, conflict laden country
that is not a reliable source for a critically
important metal. Cobalt produced from the
Democratic Republic of Congo includes
artisanal mines which are environmen-
tally toxic and unfortunately exploit child
labour. There are large cobalt deposits in
laterites in Australia and other tropical
countries but these are also quite environ-
mentally questionable.
A Tesla Model S contains 15 kilograms
of cobalt. I estimate the Model 3 will
contain 10 kilograms of cobalt since its
battery is smaller, but Tesla has received
pre-orders for 400,000 of these. So this will
combine with Model S cars, BMW I3's,
Nissan Leafs, Chevy Bolts and VW e-Golfs
to generate incremental demand for at least
one million kilograms of cobalt per year.
That is quite a bit.
Cobalt markets are in a deficit, prices
have doubled and the rumblings from the
Congo are not good.
So Tesla's conundrum is: Where can it
find an environmentally friendly, large
resource of cobalt from a reliable supplier?
Anyone know where we can find a large
resource that could supply about one thou-
sand tonnes of cobalt a year? Anyone? I
don't know of any such resource person-
ally, but I do predict an emerging interest
in finding such a resource in the next few
years.
n
Alfred Stewart is a financial advisor with
Raymond James Ltd. Information provided is
not a solicitation and although obtained from
sources considered reliable, is not guaranteed.
The view and opinions contained in the article
are those of Alfred Stewart, not Raymond
James Ltd. Raymond James Ltd., member of
Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
Lithium is just the butter
on the bread of the lithium
ion battery sandwich with
the lithium ions shuttling
back and forth between the
anode and the cathode.
