# Cobalt: Extraction

Why Congo's copper ores are so rich in cobalt

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/extraction/

Why Congo's copper ores are so rich in cobalt What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.

About 85% of cobalt is a by-product of copper or nickel. Most comes from sediment-hosted copper ores in southern DR Congo, where cobalt grades can reach 10-15%, far above the usual fraction of a percent (Conway). The rest comes from nickel laterites in Indonesia and the Pacific, and nickel-copper sulfides in Australia, Canada and Russia. Congolese mines usually ship cobalt hydroxide, an intermediate refined abroad. Indonesian high-pressure acid leach plants recover cobalt from nickel ore. Artisanal diggers produce nearly a third of Congo's cobalt, often in dangerous conditions (Scheyder).

Cobalt is almost never mined on its own. About three-quarters comes from copper-cobalt ores in the DRC, where large mechanised mines leach ore with acid, win copper by electrowinning and precipitate cobalt hydroxide. A further share comes from artisanal diggers on the same ores. The fastest-growing source is Indonesian nickel laterite treated by high-pressure acid leaching, which yields a mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide. Smaller volumes come from nickel-copper sulphide mines in Russia, Canada and Australia. Almost all intermediates are refined in China. Recycling of scrap and batteries adds about a tenth.

#### Methods compared

| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Sediment-hosted copper-cobalt mining + acid leach + SX-EW copper + cobalt hydroxide (DRC)** | about 73% of 2025 mine output (230 kt of 310 kt, USGS), including artisanal output | CMOC's Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu produced 117.5 kt Co in 2025; Glencore's KCC and Mutanda 36.1 kt | n/a | cobalt is itself the by-product of copper | n/a |
| **Nickel laterite HPAL to mixed hydroxide precipitate (Indonesia)** | about 14% of 2025 mine output (44 kt, USGS) | PT Huafei 10.8 kt, PT Huayue 7.6 kt, PT Obi Nickel Cobalt 6.5 kt, PT Halmahera Persada Lygend 6.2 kt Co in 2025 | n/a | cobalt is a by-product of nickel; scandium possible | n/a |
| **Artisanal and small-scale mining (DRC)** | Scheyder (2024) puts artisanal mining at nearly a third of Congo's output; no official figure | EGC quota 470 t per month | n/a | copper | n/a |
| **Nickel-copper sulphide mining and matte refining (Russia, Canada, Australia, US)** | about 5% of 2025 mine output (Russia 7.7 kt, Australia 3.7 kt, Canada 3.5 kt, US 0.3 kt, USGS) | n/a | n/a | cobalt is a by-product of nickel and copper; PGMs at Norilsk and Sudbury | n/a |
| **Recycling of scrap and spent batteries** | roughly 10% of 2025 total supply (Cobalt Institute); Benchmark cites 30-45 kt a year of recycled supply (Oct 2026) | US secondary production about 2,000 t in 2025, 25% of US consumption (USGS) | n/a | nickel, lithium, copper | n/a |

#### How each method works
**Sediment-hosted copper-cobalt mining + acid leach + SX-EW copper + cobalt hydroxide (DRC)**

Open pits mine oxide and mixed ores; ore is leached with sulphuric acid, copper is recovered by solvent extraction and electrowinning, and cobalt is precipitated from the barren solution as hydroxide with lime or magnesia. The hydroxide is trucked to Dar es Salaam or Durban for export.

World's richest cobalt grades, but export quotas since October 2025 (96,600 t a year cap for 2026-27 including strategic reserve), logistics and governance risk.
 USGS MCS 2026; Cobalt Institute 2025; Glencore full-year 2025 production report. No public cobalt-specific unit cost found: producers report costs on a copper basis with cobalt credits **Nickel laterite HPAL to mixed hydroxide precipitate (Indonesia)**

Limonite ore is leached with sulphuric acid in autoclaves at high temperature and pressure; nickel and cobalt are precipitated together as MHP, which is shipped to China or refined locally into sulphate. Plants are mostly Chinese-owned, in Sulawesi and Halmahera.

Fast-growing and low-cost, but sulphur supply risk (2026 MHP forecast cut 8.9% after Strait of Hormuz disruption) and tailings and emissions concerns.
 USGS MCS 2026; Cobalt Institute 2025 and H1 2026 reports **Artisanal and small-scale mining (DRC)**

Diggers work pits and tunnels by hand, often on or next to industrial concessions, and sell heterogenite ore to depots that feed local processors. The state-owned Entreprise Generale du Cobalt (EGC) has a legal monopoly on buying artisanal cobalt, capped at 470 t a month under the quotas.

Flexible supply that rises with price, but documented child labour and fatal accidents; Amnesty International (2016, quoted by Scheyder) reported children hauling 20-40 kg loads for $1-2 a day.
 Scheyder, The War Below (2024); Cobalt Institute 2025 **Nickel-copper sulphide mining and matte refining (Russia, Canada, Australia, US)**

Underground sulphide ore is floated, smelted to a nickel-copper matte and refined; cobalt is recovered as metal or salts at refineries in Russia, Canada, Finland, Norway and Japan.

Diversified, often Western-owned supply, but small and tied to nickel economics.
 USGS MCS 2026 **Recycling of scrap and spent batteries**

Superalloy and carbide scrap is remelted or chemically recycled; spent batteries are shredded to black mass and leached to recover cobalt, nickel and lithium.

Local supply for importers, but battery feed is still limited by long battery lives.
 Cobalt Institute 2025; Benchmark Oct 2026; USGS MCS 2026 Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.

#### By-product supply

Cobalt has a companionality of about 85%: almost all is mined with copper in the DRC and Zambia or with nickel in Indonesia, Russia, Australia, Canada, Cuba and the Philippines. DRC copper-cobalt mines supplied about 73% and Indonesian nickel about 14% of 2025 mine output (USGS). Because copper and nickel prices decide how much ore is mined, cobalt supply barely responds to cobalt's own price. That is why a glut drove prices to nine-year lows in early 2025, and why the DRC used an export ban and then quotas, not mine cuts, to support prices.

#### Share produced as a by-product
 About 85% of primary supply comes as a by-product of copper and nickel (Nassar, Graedel & Harper 2015, approximate).

#### Who does it: global

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **CMOC Group** | China | mining (Tenke Fungurume, Kisanfu, DRC) | 118 kt Co (39.5% of world mine output) | 2025 | [Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2025](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cobalt-Market-Report-2025.pdf) |
| **Glencore** | Switzerland | mining (KCC, Mutanda, DRC), refining (Nikkelverk, Norway), trading | 36.1 kt Co (own-sourced) | 2025 | [Glencore Full Year 2025 Production Report](https://www.glencore.com/media-and-insights/news/full-year-2025-production-report) |
| **ERG (Eurasian Resources Group)** | Luxembourg/Kazakhstan | tailings processing (Metalkol RTR, DRC) | 19 kt Co | 2025 | [Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2025](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cobalt-Market-Report-2025.pdf) |
| **Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (PT Huafei and PT Huayue, Indonesia)** | China | HPAL MHP in Indonesia, refining and precursors in China | 18.4 kt Co from Huafei (10.8) and Huayue (7.6) HPAL plants | 2025 | [Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2025 (plant volumes); ownership of the plants by Huayou-led ventures as named](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cobalt-Market-Report-2025.pdf) |
| **Lygend Resources (with Harita Group)** | China/Indonesia | HPAL MHP at Obi Island | 12.7 kt Co (PT Obi Nickel Cobalt 6.5 + PT Halmahera Persada Lygend 6.2) | 2025 | [Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2025](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cobalt-Market-Report-2025.pdf) |
| **Umicore** Refined volume not verified from a company report, so left blank; Finland, where Umicore's Kokkola refinery sits, produced 6.6% of 2025 refined cobalt (Cobalt Institute). | Belgium | refining (Kokkola, Finland), cathode materials, recycling | not published | n/a |  |

#### Who does it: India

India has no cobalt mine and no significant primary refinery, so it imports refined metal, salts and cobalt inside imported cells. Battery recyclers recover cobalt from black mass, and India has introduced export permits and limits on trader participation for black mass to support domestic refining (Cobalt Institute 2025). India was not among the top six cobalt importers by value in 2024 (UN Comtrade, HS 8105). Volumes for Indian recyclers were not verified.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/correlation/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cobalt/links/index.md)