Cobalt is More Than a Color

Cobalt has a storied past. Cobalt has been used for over 3000 years due to its rich blue color. From Persia, Pompeii, Rome and the Tang dynasty, Cobalt was used to color jewelry, glass, and ceramics.

Even the name Cobalt is based in folklore. Cobalt is derived from the German nickname of “Goblin Ore” due to the fact that processing Cobalt ore released deadly arsenic fumes.

Today, Cobalt is a multi-million dollar industry. Domestic production and use of Cobalt for the United States of America alone was estimated at $575 million in 2017.

Cobalt has many applications. Cobalt is often used to produce strong alloys resistant to heat and corrosion, and to produce strong magnets. These characteristics – heat resistant, corrosion resistant and magnetic qualities – make Cobalt a key component in building today’s batteries. Cobalt has become a “big” item in investment and business news.

Taken From the Headlines

“In December 2017, First Cobalt closed a merger with Cobalt One to form the largest landowner in the Cobalt Camp in Ontario and owns the only cobalt refinery in North America for producing battery materials.”

“Brazilian miner Vale is seeking to sell un-mined cobalt worth hundreds of millions of dollars to investors, as speculation rises over a shortage of the metal needed to make batteries, sources familiar with the matter said.”

“Booming demand for cellphone and electric-vehicle batteries has created a once-unthinkable metals-industry player: the pure cobalt company. Cobalt prices have risen 270% on the London Metal Exchange to about $80,000 a metric ton since early 2016”

“Soaring cobalt prices force Samsung SDI to mine metal from old phones“

Is the Cobalt industry is heating-up? Answer, it requires more research.

Additional References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt
https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cobalt/mcs-2018-cobal.pdf
https://www.thebalance.com/metal-profile-cobalt-2340131

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