Katanga Mining Ltd Ord KATFF

Cobalt price rally to six-month high - $17.5 per lb

[Sogosohubidu201]

https://www.reuters.com/article/europe-cobalt-prices-idUSL5N25T3BW

BENGALURU, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Cobalt prices have scaled a six-month peak on expectations of shrinking supplies after top producer Glencore announced plans to shut its Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Cobalt COB-CATH-LON rose to $17.5 per lb in the past week, a gain of more than 30% since early August, when commodity trader and miner Glencore said Mutanda would close from the end of this year for two years.

[Lech1988]

Also I can all but guarantee you KAT will not hit hits Cobalt production targets next year.  The “ion exchange plant” hasn’t even been approved yet (and there remains precisely zero updates on this) and they casually pushed back the commissioning already by a whole year.  My guess is 30-40% of guidance production next year using “ore blending” to get the radiation levels low enough and

[bobsacramento]

It will be interesting to see what kind of long term cobalt contracts Glencore is trying to negotiate. I think cobalt suppliers and consumers met recently for negotiations if I’m not mistaken. As for DRC, Tshikesedi is in a bit of a complicated situation politically with the mining royalties

[Lech1988]

Yes it’s that time of year.  I agree it will be interesting to see if they get any big ones.  Presumably they need KAT's material to plug the hole from Mutanda so they can continue to meet supply agreements but as usual there is zero communication regarding approvals or progress. 

[Sogosohubidu201]

@lech, @bob. Ore blending is one thing. More effectivelly, it is the interim solution of phosphoric acid precipitation method to remove uranium that works quite well.  Per Glencore conference call last month, KAT had already achieved 90-94% produced cobalt hydroxide meeting the uranium specs with acid precipitation process. Further improvement from that level make you wonder whether the ion