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Commoditycobalt

Critical · 3 lists

Cobalt · Co

battery_metal · byproduct

DOE_2023

USGS_2022

USGS_2025

Bottom line

Cobalt sits on 3 federal critical-minerals lists; mine supply is highly concentrated (HHI 0.59, 2025), led by 🇨🇩 Congo (Kinshasa) at 75% of output. The US is 79% net import-reliant (2025). Prices rose 27% over the past year (-10%/yr over 4y).

At a glance

Headline indicators

Price · 2025

15dollars per pound

USGS MCS (LME)

Price trend

+27% 1Y

-10%/yr · 4Y CAGR

US net import reliance · 2025

79%

Mine production HHI

0.59

Highly concentrated · 2025

From ore to use

lifecycle flow

01Reserves
12.0Mt
Congo (Kinshasa) leads · 50% share
02Production
268.5Kt
Congo (Kinshasa) top · 2024
03Trade
9.5Kt
net importer · 2025

Process engineering

2 PROMMIS flowsheets

PROMMIS · diafiltration
Open workbench →
Single two-salt diafiltration module - Co stays in the retentate as Li exits via the permeate. Selectivity is the natural design objective when Co is the target stream.
commodity: cobalt · suggested axis: diafiltrate_flow_volume · y: co_permeate_recovery_pct
PROMMIS · membrane_cascade
Open workbench →
Multi-stage cascade cost-optimized against a Co recovery floor - the trade-off curve of cost vs how much Co you insist on recovering.
commodity: cobalt · suggested axis: cobalt_recovery_target · y: total_annualized_cost

Coverage

Data coverage notes

datedMaterial-flow analysis is historical - All 141 material-flow records date to 2005 or earlier (Yale STAF era). They describe the anthropogenic cycle of that period, not today's system.
datedExport-restriction inventory ends 2020 - The OECD industrial-raw-materials inventory (vendored snapshot) reports HS-line measures only through 2020; restrictions enacted since are not reflected in the measure table.
narrowConsumption geography is single-economy (United States) - Reported consumption covers one economy only - the world usage split must be read from trade flows, not from a consumption table.

Provenance

Where this data comes from

04Stocks

1.5Kt

year-end · 2025

05Consumption

9.6Kt

Consumption (includes secondary): Apparent · 2025

Methodology

How strata reads a commodity

The eight-stage lens, the observed-vs-estimated membrane, stage-honest supply, per-stage concentration, ownership resolution and the demand lens - the full method is illustrated live on copper, nickel and lithium.

Read the methodology, illustrated live →

BGS World Mineral Statistics
IEA Critical Minerals Dataset (CMO 2025)
strata midstream/components census
midstream_components_seed
NI 43-101 / AIF deposit economics (tungsten + tin)
ni43101_deposits
strata ownership-control seed
ownership_control_seed
SEC S-K 1300 TRS - LLM extraction lane
sec_edgar_ex96_pdf
Statistics Canada Table 16-10-0022
USGS DS-140 (constant 1998 USD)
USGS DS-140 (nominal)
USGS MCS (LME)
USGS MCS (U.S. spot)
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries World Data (legacy wide format, 2023-2025 vintages)
USGS Minerals Yearbook OFR 2025-1047
USGS Minerals Yearbook Vol III, reference year 2019
USGS ARDF
USGS Critical-Mineral Deposits
usgs_critmin_deposits_v2
USGS Deposit-Type Grade & Tonnage (Ni-Co laterite, podiform chromite)
usgs_deposit_gt
USGS National Mine Waste Inventory (NMWI)
usgs_mine_waste
USGS MRDS deposits
usgs_mrds_2016
USGS Critical Minerals (PP-1802)
usgs_pp1802_global
USGS USMIN Critical Deposits
usmin_critical_deposits
Xu et al. 2020 battery material vectors
xu 2020 commat

23 sources · titles open the source card · url opens the publisher