| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Unknown - May 3, 2018 CNN's Clare Sebastian takes a look the cobalt industry and why the element is so critical to making electric cars run. Click on blue title to access video | | Metal Bulletin - May 2, 2018 Cobalt prices fell on Wednesday May 2 for the first time since October, with the potential bullish impact of legal action against Glencore... Metal Bulletin assessed low-grade cobaltprices at $43.50-44.25 per lb in-warehouse on Wednesday, down 0.5% from $43.70-44.45 per lb High-grade cobalt prices moved similarly, assessed at $43.50-44.35 per lb in-warehouse at midweek…Prices for both grades had stabilized since mid-April, following a steady run-up from the $30-per-lb level seen in October….Gertler’s legal claims against Glencore also threaten to disrupt production at the company's subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper Co…But the news adds to the strong fundamentals - namely a tightness in supply of broken cathode, strong end-user demand and uncertainty over future supplies - which are expected to keep cobalt prices underpinned going forward…“If anything, the fundamentals have improved over the past month,” another trader said. | | Metal Bulletin - May 2, 2018 Metal Bulletin has launched a price assessment for cobalt sulfate, 20.5% min Co, ex-works China, published as a $ per lb adjustment to the... , re: China cobalt sulfate price assessment.'Metal Bulletin is also consulting on possible changes to its benchmark cobalt metal price After a consultation period, Metal Bulletin has launched a price assessment to cover the Chinese cobalt sulfate market. Cobalt sulfate, of which China is the largest producer in the world, is one of the key materials used to produce lithium-ion nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs)…The newly launched China cobalt sulfate price assessment will enhance Metal Bulletin’s coverage of the battery raw materials supply chain in response to the looming EV boom. | | | | | Evs | | | | Reuters UK - May 2, 2018 STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - Daimler (DAIGn.DE) has awarded a contract for supplying electric car battery cells to China’s Contemporary... a Chinese industry body to tackle risks in the cobalt supply chain arising from artisanalmining. Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Daimler has awarded a contract for supplying electric car battery cells to China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the German carmaker’s procurement executive, Sabine Angermann, said on Wednesday…Speaking at a press conference in Stuttgart, Germany, to discuss sourcing of raw materials for electric car batteries, Angermann declined to reveal further details about the volume of the supply contract and whether it goes beyond supplying battery cells for Mercedes-Benz cars built outside of China. | | CNN Money - May 2, 2018 Is there such a thing as an ethical electric car? A day after a CNN investigation into abuses in cobalt mining, the maker of Mercedes cars... on Tuesday showing that children are still working in small, artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. CNN shared its A day after a CNN investigation into abuses in cobalt mining, the maker of Mercedes cars pledged to investigate its supply chain to ensure child labor is not being used to power its electric vehicles…"We actively create transparency in the supply chain, right down to the mine if necessary," said Sabine Angermann, head of purchasing and supplier quality for raw materials and strategy at Mercedes-Benz cars. | | | | | Congo | | | | Cetusnews.com - May 3, 2018 Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg probably wouldn’t put the Democratic Republic of Congo high up on his list of holiday destinations. Nor would... on production and supply of cobalt, a key metal used in electric car batteries. Glencore is the biggest producer of cobalt from the DRC, Yesterday, the London-listed miner and commodity trader said it had been embroiled in tough negotiations with DRC state mining company Gcamines in a bid to recapitalise its local Kamoto Copper Company — and prevent it being dissolved with the loss of its licences without compensation…And, on Friday, it was on the receiving end of a near $3bn damages claim and a freezing orders on its DRC copper and cobalt assets from Mr Gertler. That forced it to seek a temporary injunction against the Israeli billionaire in a London court - as revealed in a Financial Times scoop - in a bid to have the original Congolese freezing order overruled…All of these developments could have an impact on production and supply of cobalt, a key metal used in electric car batteries. Glencore is the biggest producer of cobalt from the DRC, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of global supply. | | The Mast Online - May 3, 2018 DR Congo presidential hopeful Moise Katumbi says he is not afraid to go back to his country. And Katumbi says President Joseph Kabila is... progressive for the Congo. CNN recently produced a report on children working in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a DR Congo presidential hopeful Moise Katumbi says he is not afraid to go back to his country. And Katumbi says President Joseph Kabila is doing nothing progressive for the Congo…CNN recently produced a report on children working in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo…In a tele-conference interview with CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Katumbi said the children were being abused because of bad governance in the country…“This is why we are looking forward to elections because if there is no election, Congo is going to continue witnessing instability and the country could plunge into civil war. Today there are five million people displaced internally. They are killing a lot of people, and millions of people are dying in the east, in the central, all over the country but why? We need to have elections so that at least there can be peace in Congo. If Kabila remains in power, he is going to keep these militia groups, he is going to steal all the minerals because [of] using children [in] the mining sector. And the law of Congo is very good. When I was a governor I abolished these things of the child labour,” Katumbi said. | | | | | Fortune Minerals In The Media | | | | My Yellowknife Now - May 2, 2018 The GNWT has put a focus on mining for environmentally friendly minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. An all-access road was Premier Bob McLeod expressed his desire to invest in other minerals…“Resource development plays an important role in the NWT Economy. The opportunity to engage with industry stakeholders at this conference allowed us as leaders to advance our objectives on growing the territorial economy. We need to work together to demonstrate the NWT’s support for mining and help it keep its place as an important source of jobs and income for NWT residents.”…The GNWT has put a focus on mining for environmentally friendly minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. An all-access road was recently approved for construction and will connect the community of Whati to the territory’s highway system at highway 3. The new road will also be used to connect Fortune Minerals’ potential new cobalt mine to a hydrometallurgical plant near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. | | | | |