Mining News North story describes the envisioned green future where every North American is driving a battery-powered electric vehicle charged with renewable energy could be undermined by cobalt, a somewhat scarce and controversial metal that makes lithium-ion batteries better.
"Cobalt is considered the highest material supply chain risk for electric vehicles in the short and medium term," noted the U.S. Department of Energy in a report.
This risk has automakers, lithium-ion battery manufacturers, and government agencies investigating battery chemistries that reduce the amount of cobalt needed – a task that is not easy without sacrificing the safety and performance provided by this critical transition metal.
The article continues with information about a CMI project in Idaho:
First Cobalt is currently focusing its exploration efforts on the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project in Idaho, which hosts one of the few primary cobalt deposits in the world.
According to a 2019 calculation, Iron Creek hosts 2.2 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.26% (12.3 million pounds) cobalt and 0.61% (29 million lb) copper; plus 2.7 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.22% (12.7 million lb) cobalt and 0.68% (40 million lb) copper.
With the goal of doubling the size of the resource, First Cobalt launched a C$2.5 million exploration program at Iron Creek in June.
"With our Canadian refinery expansion underway, we are turning our attention to our flagship mineral project in Idaho," said First Cobalt President and CEO Trent Mell. "Drilling aims to extend the cobalt and copper mineralization at Iron Creek and test for new mineralization at nearby targets that could result in additional resources on the property."
See the complete story at Mining News North: Solving the critical cobalt conundrum.