Cobalt mining - "Find the Shiny" :) - one big flaw in the green world of Lithium powered cars etc.

Going by known sources, the Cobalt supply rate cannot keep up with the growth in EV vehicles.

And its production certainly does not match any view of a Utopian future.

15,000 Africans working in a mining pit using the most primitive methods imaginable to mine the ore.



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Musk intends to eliminate cobalt in battery cathodes by changing battery technology to use less costly, less constrained and more socially acceptable metals such as nickel and manganese.

Of course the Earth is a big place, and I'm sure with time they will find more sources.

Conflict minerals in Africa are similar to the so called "Blood Diamonds". Cobalt certainly should qualify (although it does not appear to be on their list), along with the other minerals (Gold, Tantalum, Tungsten and Tin), that the job-killing Dodd-Frank Law used to place controls on. Trump supposedly relieved industry of this reporting, but I see it still seems to be required.

Like most such laws, they tend to be circumvented with the exchange of some money.

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Last Edited by JustmeTX on 03/04/2023 11:24 AM