Santiago/New York — Niche metal cobalt is leaving bigger names, such as copper and lithium, in its dust, triggering a hunt for new deposits from Idaho to Chile. As one of the key components in the new breed of rechargeable batteries and with supply dominated by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), prices have surged at four times the pace of major metals in the past year. This has caught the attention of governments, explorers and money managers, with annual demand set to increase 34% until 2026 as electric cars gain a bigger share of the global automotive fleet, according to CRU Group. Authorities in Chile, the top copper-producing nation, are embarking on a fact-finding mission with a view to re-start cobalt production after a more than seven-decade hiatus. First Cobalt is merging with two other firms to create what it calls the world’s largest explorer of the mineral. A bet on the cobalt industry has helped make a Commodity Capital fund the best performer in the commodities ma...
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