Browsing: U.S. Geological Survey

• Companies that purchase cobalt are said to engage in a “futile” exercise when they attempt to differentiate flows from industrial mines and the significant production from small-scale artisanal mining
• Buyers will only be able to fulfil an anticipated four-fold growth in global demand for cobalt by 2030 with ASM
• The DRC Congo was the world’s greatest producer of cobalt in 2022, producing 130,000 tonnes of the metal, roughly 68% of all cobalt mined worldwide

To meet the growing demand for the mineral used in batteries that power electric vehicles and consumer gadgets, changes are needed to legitimize the activities of unregulated artisanal mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Companies that purchase cobalt are said to engage in a “futile” exercise when they attempt to differentiate flows from industrial mines and the significant production from small-scale artisanal mining, or ASM, according to a paper released on Wednesday 8th Feb …