Cobalt blues
Back when “things” were not cool
As mentioned in my first Substack article, By way of introduction, I did my graduate thesis on the strategic stockpile of non-fuel minerals. This is how I landed a job as the Technical Director of the National Critical Materials Council, Executive Office of the President. Perhaps I got my just desserts when I voted for Bill Clinton instead of George H.W. Bush and Clinton promptly did away with my tiny agency as part of what became known as “Travelgate.” The Clintons replaced career government employees at The White House travel office and elsewhere with their own hand-picked folks. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, and it won’t be the last.
The general feeling from many at the time was that physical things didn’t really matter that much. Computer software was “where it’s at,” and materials would always be there when we want them. The Iron Curtain had fallen, opening up relatively secure sources for many important minerals. Apartheid was rapidly coming to an end in South Africa and this too meant access to markets that had been a delicate balance between corporate image and corporate profits.
Fast forward to today and we now have the realization that in order to produce clean, carbon-free, energy, the materials requirements are enormous. Wind and solar are both materials-intensive technologies, as are the batteries that are at the heart of electric vehicles (EV) and that play a crucial role in shifting energy to meet load after the sun goes down or the wind has stopped blowing.
If it’s not perfect, then forget it
The popular press and social media are fond of headlines such as, “Will Materials Requirements Stifle Clean Energy Development,” or “Minerals Mining Tarnishes the Image of Clean Technologies.” Some of these headlines amount to eco-clickbait where the media company is mainly looking to get you to open the story. Still others are part of a concerted effort by those who wish to do nothing about climate change to undermine clean energy development. Attacking renewable technologies is the latest strategy for the do-nothing crowd. It is obvious to any sentient being that climate change is happening now, and that naturally occurring factors are not enough to explain it. So, they have had to change their narrative. Casting doubt on the sustainability of renewable technologies and batteries in particular is front and center to that strategy.
One of the narratives that predominates is that “cobalt mining conditions are the worst.” This asserts that clean technologies are driving demand for cobalt in batteries and that demand is being met by cobalt produced in deplorable mining conditions such as the artisanal small-scale mines (ASM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This argument is made by folks on the right to shame folks on the left. Now some on the left have taken the bait and see this as a reason to oppose all EV development. However, deplorable mining conditions have existed in the Congo since the beginning of the mining industry in the region. It is just another example of the consequences of colonial exploitation in what used to be called The Belgian Congo.
About 70% of the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC. (1) It’s not that the industrial mines are anything to write home about, but up to 20% of cobalt comes from the ASMs. These mines provide employment for about 255,000 people. About 40,000 of them are children between the ages of 6 and 17. The wage rate is $2/day or below. (2)
There are no easy solutions
What are the options? Abandon the energy transition and accept climate change? The effects of that would devastate not only the DRC but all of Africa and the world. Continue to turn a largely blind eye? We love our phones, and God forbid they should cost more, and fair-trade cobalt will increase their cost along with batteries for EVs. But can we really ignore these conditions even though the end goal of clean, sustainable energy may be a noble one. Whatever the technical fixes, there must be an effort to improve mining conditions in the DRC.
The Responsible Minerals Initiative is an alliance of 500 or so global businesses created to address the broader issues in mining. Their flagship is the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP), which looks good on paper as it promotes third party validation of fair mineral sourcing practices. (3) Of course, the devil is always in the details. Because of complex supply chains and a general lack of transparency, third party verification is often quite difficult. This is not to say that these efforts shouldn’t be applauded—assuming they are real efforts to mitigate the problem—but we should acknowledge that the level of difficulty is quite high. Other organizations such as Fairphone, and the Fair Cobalt Alliance have the same goals and face similar challenges. (4) However, it should be noted that these problems are not unique to the mining industry.
Do you like chocolate? I bet you do
Cobalt mining has gotten the attention for both valid and sometimes nefarious reasons. But the cobalt scenario is lived out globally in multiple industries. The chocolate industry for example is a flashpoint for child labor. Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana account for 60% of the world cocoa production. It is estimated that 1.56 million children work on cocoa farms in these countries. (5) Think of that the next time you bite into your favorite chocolate confection. There are similar efforts underway as in the mining industry to make the chocolate industry more just, but the challenges are the same.
The point is that the situation with cobalt mining is nothing unusual but rather a manifestation of hundreds of years of the first world exploiting the resources and people of the third world. The problem is much bigger than demand for materials to make batteries that enable the energy transition. The problem goes beyond European and U.S. exploitation. China is the biggest player in the DRC as cobalt is one of the few critical materials that China is not awash in. This is not only a moral dilemma but a strategic one. China is both the leading producer and consumer of refined cobalt and 87% of it is used in the lithium-ion battery industry. (1)
What’s a good person to do?
There are several technical strategies to dampen cobalt demand.
Solid state batteries, which use sodium and other more plentiful minerals are also safer than lithium-ion batteries. There is also research into reducing the amount of cobalt in traditional lithium-ion batteries. The challenge is that scale up of any new technology takes time. Of all the inputs into the energy transition, time is the most precious commodity and the one we are most likely to run out of.
Cobalt recycling is also feasible. The problem is that the new demand heavily outweighs the existing availability of spent batteries. However, recycled cobalt still meets 25% of current demand. (1)
New types of energy storage for utility applications. There are storage technologies that don’t require batteries such as mass thermal storage using sand and other media. Of course, EVs will still require batteries that minimize weight requirements.
By way of context
The current president of the DRC is Felix Tshisekedi. He has attempted some mining reforms, but they have been met with opposition from the mining companies (shocker, I know). Despite the name, democracy in the DRC is a tenuous and fragile institution. Tshisekedi’s presidency marked the first peaceful transition of power by an incumbent president since 1960. For many years the man in charge was Mobutu Sese Seko, or just Mobutu. He ruled from 1971 to 1997 and is estimated to have amassed a $5 billion fortune. What happened to that wealth is largely a mystery. It could have been overstated in the first place although it was certainly significant. Much of it was whittled away by lawyers, bankers, accountants and the like. Some of it stayed in the family as they remain wealthy. What is for sure is that it didn’t end up with the average Congolese citizen. The dire poverty is the reason that the cobalt mining conditions continue and that children are allowed to work under these conditions for the money they bring into their families.
The United States and Belgium are at least partially responsible for Mobutu’s rise to power as Patrice Lumumba (a former Mobutu mentor and ally) was a Congelese Nationalist who had left-leaning sympathies that would likely be detrimental to international mining interests, so a coup was in order.
It will come as no surprise that the salaries of international mining executives are also well into the millions. So, let’s stop putting the blame on someone who wants to drive an EV and instead recognize the complexity of the issue, along with the historical forces and current political realities that make a solution so difficult. If consumers start asking about fair-trade mining this will begin to influence the market—slowly but surely. So, bring it up the next time you buy a cellphone or an EV.
A note to billionaires—the ones who at least profess to care. How about paying those kids $5/day to go to school. Pay them 365 days a year. That would be 40,000 times $5 times 365 or $73 million. Throw in another $20 million to administer the program. That comes in at under $100 million—chump change for you.
Author’s note. I couldn’t find a stock photo of an artisanal mining site, so here are cobalt blue chocolates instead.
Sources
1 Cobalt Mineral Commodity Summary
2 The DRC Mining Industry: Child Labor and Formalization of Small-Scale Mining
3 Responsible Minerals Assurance Process
As always, you’ve done a fine job of laying out a timely topic with nuance and clarity.