While growing in demand, cobalt is no petroleum, and the DRC should be cautious
Sydney — An isolated African nation possesses unique deposits of a rare and valuable metal. Its leaders aim to nationalise mineral wealth, while a white South African trader seeks a more vigorous export market. Inevitably, resources bring tragedy as well as triumph. With great power comes great responsibility. If that sounds like the plot of the current box-office smash Black Panther, it has a real-world echo. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has an endowment of cobalt scarcely less outsized than the fictional Wakanda’s reserves of vibranium. With the rise of electric vehicles forecast to increase demand for the battery material more than fourfold and cobalt prices tripling over the past two years, the paralysed, election-dodging government in Kinshasa is weighing a 150% increase in mining royalties. Those levies may threaten the plans of Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of the world’s biggest cobalt producer, Glencore, who wants to double production from the company’s Congolese mines. Bl...
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