- Reports of human rights abuses negatively affecting Congo as source of cobalt
- North American cobalt represents only feasible alternative source
- First Cobalt Corp. has commanding presence at Cobalt Camp
A December 2017 report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey shines the spotlight on cobalt. Titled ‘Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply’, the report identifies the hard, lustrous silver-grey metal as one of 23 minerals “you need in your life” (http://ibn.fm/H2Qct). Undoubtedly! Cobalt finds use mostly in the cathodes of rechargeable batteries, demand for which, to power devices both great and small, continues to climb. From smartphones and tablets to electric vehicles (EVs) and virtual power plants, cobalt is working its way further into our lives. These market forces are also casting the limelight on cobalt mining company First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQB: FTSSF). Since its cobalt properties lie in North America, the junior explorer avoids the negative publicity of mining African cobalt.
Since early 2016, when Amnesty International published an exposé of the exploitative practices rife in Congo’s cobalt mines, the pressure has been rising on marquee manufacturers that use the mineral to utilize alternative sources. Supplies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the principal global source of mined cobalt (55 percent), are increasingly tainted by reports of child labor and other human rights abuses. Most recently, a televised CBS report further exposed the use of child labor in the DRC’s search for cobalt (http://ibn.fm/UuyRf).
Still, sources of cobalt are few and far between. After the DRC, China and Canada are poor runners up, contributing roughly six percent of supply each. Despite being third in consumption after China and Japan, the U.S. produces very little cobalt, and what it does produce is simply a byproduct of PGE (platinum group element) mining. With China’s production requisitioned by its domestic customers, U.S. and European companies must turn their attention to Canada, and its cobalt properties located in the aptly named Cobalt Camp, in the province of Ontario. The area, heavily mined for silver in the 1900s, got its name from the cobalt in the ores.
First Cobalt owns extensive properties there. The company is the largest landowner in Ontario’s Cobalt Camp with control of over 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres) of prospective land and 50 historic cobalt/silver mines.
“Never in the history of modern mining have you seen cobalt as a primary focus for us miners,” Trent Mell, president and CEO of First Cobalt, stated in a news release. “Our own little property itself that we have right now that we’re focused on could produce enough cobalt to supply the gigafactory that Elon Musk is building today”.
Mell is a mining executive and capital markets professional with extensive international transactional experience. Following his comments, NetworkNewsWire released an audio press release on First Cobalt’s moves to meet growing demand for cobalt (http://ibn.fm/9cQHx).
First Cobalt’s assets also include a mill and the only permitted cobalt extraction refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials. The refinery will require some modification before it can begin operating; however, this is a much less costly and speedier option than attempting to construct a new facility and get it permitted. It has the added advantage of all the environmental permits already being in place. This integrated approach of mining and refining is likely to place First Cobalt in a dominant position as U.S. and European manufacturers cast about for sources of the mineral.
The prospects are promising. The company recently announced commencement of its 2018 borehole geophysical and optical televiewer survey program, which will test holes drilled in Cobalt South and, for the first time, in Cobalt North (http://ibn.fm/8gMCI). The borehole program is intended to expand known zones of cobalt mineralization and further define the controlling structures in these two areas. The borehole geophysical data will also be used to assess ground geophysical methods for detecting blind cobalt mineralization elsewhere in the Cobalt Camp.
First Cobalt is catching the eye of investors and regulators. In 2017, its share price soared by 90 percent, according to Bloomberg (http://ibn.fm/3lGVW), and in February 2018, the company announced it had been named a 2018 TSX Venture 50 company in an annual ranking of the top 50 publicly traded companies on the TSX Venture exchange (http://ibn.fm/Htapv). The TSX Venture 50 lists the top 10 companies in five major industry sectors, identified as leaders in creating shareholder value based on market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading volume. From a total of 1,200 mining companies listed on the TSX-V, First Cobalt was ranked fourth on the list of leading mining companies for 2017.
For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/FTSSF
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