First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQX: FTSSF) Expands Muckpile Sampling as Supply Shortfall Looms

May 21, 2018 12:34:39
  • Global cobalt market set for CAGR of 11.6 percent
  • Global supply shortage on the horizon as EV production accelerates
  • First Cobalt controls claims stretching over 10,000 hectares (39 square miles)

With global demand for cobalt now exceeding 100,000 tonnes per annum, a supply shortfall for the metal seems imminent. Over the next 10 years, the cobalt market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6 percent (http://nnw.fm/6NwUR). More than half of world supply is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), some of it by thousands of “creuseurs” (diggers), who work at great risk to their health and safety. The industry has been accused of widespread abuse, in particular, the employment of child labor, with a report by Amnesty International and African Resources Watch proclaiming that it is ‘time to recharge corporate action and inaction to tackle abuses in the cobalt supply chain in DRC.’ Such alarms are raising the prospect that battery manufacturers, who use about 42 percent of global production, will turn to alternative sources, like those operated by First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQX: FTSSF). The company, which controls 50 historic mining operations across the Cobalt Camp, is extending its muckpile sampling program. “Success with this program could warrant reactivating the mill and potentially the First Cobalt Refinery to produce battery materials”, Trent Mell, president and CEO of First Cobalt, stated in a news release.

Cobalt, for cathodes, is an essential component in a number of lithium battery technologies. The metal comprises about 10 percent of lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum-oxide (NCA) batteries, 15 percent of lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide batteries (NMC) and 55 percent of lithium-cobalt-oxide (LCO), according to…

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