Where is cobalt found and which countries are interested in the metal? What do you think will happen in the future as countries look to secure cobalt supplies?

Answer 1

Hi Vilona S.,

Cobalt cannot be found in pure states, like a few elements, in the Periodic Table. Cobalt is usually found along with other elements in minerals such as cobaltite, skutterudite, and erythrite. Some countries with abundant amounts of Cobalt are DR Congo, Canada, Australia, Zambia, and Brazil. But, most Cobalt is a by-product of nickel mining.

China and the US, respectively, are the top 2 buyers of Cobalt. Cobalt uses are airbags for cars, motors, and machinery, paints, rechargeable battery electrodes, magnets, etc. Suppose these large countries buy and use up (secure) all of the Cobal supplies. In that case, many countries will have hard times using them in machinery, saving people's lives through automobile airbags, and even powering devices through batteries. If the abundance of Cobalt diminishes, then production will decrease, and many people will be affected by the short demand.

The next thing would be to mine elsewhere, like the moon or an asteroid or the next planet Mars.