A startup by the name of KoBold Metals is using big data analytics and
modeling to create the equivalent of Google Maps of the earth’s crust with a
very specific purpose: “to
explore for new sources of ethical cobalt from reliable jurisdictions.”
Some 60 percent of the world’s cobalt, as a by-product of copper and
nickel mining, is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which doesn’t
exactly have an excellent track record in areas such as child labor, to
mention just one. Calls for finding a more ethical way to source cobalt and
other battery metals have been numerous, but until now, following them has
been problematic because of the lack of alternatives.
However, the financial backers of KoBold Metals, among them Bill Gates,
Ray Dalio, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, seem to believe technology has
advanced sufficiently to make it possible to tap hitherto undiscovered cobalt
deposits outside the DRC.
"What we’re building is basically Google Maps for the earth’s crust
and below," Bloomberg quotes
Connie Chan, partner in Andreesen Horowitz, a venture capital find that has
also invested in KoBold Metals, as saying.
The implications of this project, if successful, would be major.
"People just haven’t looked for the stuff," the chief executive of
KoBold Metals Kurt House told Bloomberg. "There’s very limited history
of exploration at all outside of piggybacking on nickel and copper
deposits." Related:
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Yet there is one cobalt mine where the metal is not being extracted as a
by-product, which has given the company and its backers hopes it won’t be the
only one. There just hasn’t been any exploration specifically targeting
cobalt because traditionally, the demand for the metal has not bee that great
for it to matter so much.
Now that things are changing with the advent of electric vehicles, and
despite a recent price slump, the outlook for cobalt is optimistic: batteries
are being used in a growing number of devices, not to mention EVs. All big
carmakers have lined up several EV models due to be released over the next
five years and all these cars will need batteries, which will need cobalt.
There is a lot of research into new types of batteries going on right now,
aiming to basically unseat lithium ion from its pedestal, but it will be a
while until these alternatives prove their viability and superiority to the
dominant technology--and this dominant technology performs better with
cobalt, which is why KoBold Metals sees demand for the metal remaining strong
in the coming years.
For now, the company has identified several potential deposits of cobalt
in the United States and Canada, and will explore these using its proprietary
technology. Whether the tech will live up to the promise of finding
commercially viable reserves of ethical cobalt remains to be seen. In any
case, it is doing something that hasn’t been done before in yet another
example of how digital technology is transforming the energy and mining
commodities industries by opening up access to resources hitherto
inaccessible.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
