Category: Cobalt

Annual cobalt production is only around 130,000 tonnes, mostly as a byproduct of nickel and copper mining. Some two-thirds of supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fears about political instability and the challenges of ethical sourcing combine to supercharge supply concerns. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Tesla is in talks to buy cobalt from Glencore for its third gigafactory, recently opened in Shanghai, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla, alongside Google, Apple and others, were sued by a human rights group in December about artisanal cobalt mining… Read More Here

Tesla is reportedly in talks with mining giant Glencore to secure a supply of cobalt, a controversial mineral used to produce Li-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles today Cobalt is a controversial mineral due to most of it coming from mining operations in Congo, a place that has historically been affected by conflict and corruption, which has resulted in child labor in some mining operations. Most tech and auto companies using cobalt have taken steps to avoid sourcing from those operations, but it’s a hard thing to track since… Read More Here