HENRY LAZENBY on MINING WEEKLY | 1 December 2017 “Cobalt supply constraints, coupled with a never-before-seen boom in the adoption rate of electric vehicles (EV) across the globe, have conspired to create an ideal market in which a pure-play cobalt investment and participation vehicle’s profits can outpace its peers. Cobalt, a critical ‘energy metal’ used […]
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Since August 2012, Paul Lynch has led the Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority, which oversees development of the islands’ national seabed mineral resource. A lawyer with over 25 years of wide and varied legal experience in the private sector, Commissioner Lynch is shaping deep sea mining as an industry, both in the Cook Islands and […]
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Interest in deep sea mining has been accelerating due to the rising price of cobalt. The metal is an important component of EV batteries, laptops and cell phones. In October 2017, cobalt prices reached a nine-year high, trading at around US$30 per pound, tripling its 2015 value of US$10. The rise is not only seen […]
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The government of the Cook Islands, through the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC), entered into an agreement in September with U.S. based Ocean Minerals, LLC (OML) for the exclusive right for up to 18 months to prospect and explore high value polymetallic nodules over approximately 23,000 square kilometers of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone […]
Read More BLOOMBERG on MINING WEEKLY | 23 November 2017 “Volkswagen AG is stepping up its hunt for long-term supplies of battery metals it will need to help power electric cars across its entire range. The top automaker invited producers and traders of cobalt, one of this year’s best-performing metals, for talks at its German headquarters this […]
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ANINE KILLIAN on MINING WEEKLY | 21 November 2017 “Junior cobalt miner Cobalt One’s shareholders have approved a merger with Toronto-based First Cobalt, which means that the companies are one step closer to creating the largest pure-play cobalt company in the world. The combined company also owns the only permitted cobalt refinery in North America […]
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BLOOMBERG via MINING WEEKLY | 19 November 2017 “Tesla’s plans to roll out an all-electric big rig have given a fresh jolt to the outlook for battery metals that will go into powering the truck founder Elon Musk is calling “The Beast.” Banks including Goldman Sachs Group, UBS Group and Bank of America are already […]
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REUTERS on MINING WEEKLY | 15 November 2017 “Apple is leading the way in tracing cobalt used in its electronics to ensure the metal has not been mined by children in Democratic Republic of Congo while Microsoft is lagging, Amnesty International said. Microsoft disagreed with the pressure group’s conclusions published on Wednesday. Congo is by […]
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POLINA DEVITT on REUTERS / MINING.COM | 30 October 2017 “Demand for cobalt used to make rechargeable batteries that power electric cars has not yet translated into a tighter market, according to Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, a major producer of the metal. “The price is higher but there is no tense situation with cobalt supply now,” […]
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RASHNEEL KUMAR on COOK ISLANDS NEWS | 3 October 2017 “In a deal worth $100,000, OML has reserved around 23,000 square kilometres, or 1.2% of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) containing high value polymetallic (manganese) nodules for up to 18 months. This gives the company the exclusive right to apply to undertake prospecting […]
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