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Cobalt & Nickel

Cobalt & Nickel — The Battery Metals Cobalt and nickel are essential components of lithium-ion battery cathodes, making them central to the electric vehicle revolution. Their geology, supply chains, and ethical considerations are deeply intertwined. Cobalt Chemical symbol: Co | Atomic number: 27 Cobalt rarely forms its own ore deposits. Instead, it is almost always produced as a by-product of copper or nickel mining. This makes cobalt supply dependent on the economics of its host metals. Deposit Types - Sediment-hosted stratiform copper-cobalt deposits — The Central African Copperbelt, spanning the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC and Zambia, hosts the world's largest cobalt reserves. The DRC alone produces over 70% of global cobalt. - Magmatic nickel-copper sulfide deposits — Cobalt occurs alongside nickel and copper in mafic-ultramafic intrusions. Canada's Sudbury Complex and Voisey's Bay in Labrador are prime examples. - Laterite deposits — Tropical weathering of ultramafic rocks concentrates cobalt in laterite profiles, as seen in New Caledonia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Ethical Concerns Artisanal and small-scale mining ASM in the DRC accounts for 15–30% of the country's cobalt output. Working conditions in some ASM operations have drawn international scrutiny, driving efforts to develop responsible sourcing standards and traceable supply chains. Nickel Chemical symbol: Ni | Atomic number: 28 Nickel demand is surging because high-nickel cathodes NMC 811: 80% nickel, 10% manganese, 10% cobalt offer superior energy density for EV batteries. Deposit Types - Magmatic sulfide deposits — Formed in mafic-ultramafic intrusions. Sudbury, Ontario, is the world's most famous example. Voisey's Bay in Labrador and the Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba are other major Canadian deposits. - Laterite deposits — Formed by tropical weathering of peridotite and serpentinite. Indonesia and the Philippines dominate laterite nickel production. Laterites account for 60% of global nickel resources but are more energy-intensive to process. Canada's Position Canada is the world's fifth-largest nickel producer and has significant cobalt reserves. The Sudbury Basin produces nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum group elements from a single mining complex — a remarkable geological endowment created by a meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago.