cobalt

Currently, China is — by far — the dominant force in the global supply chains for cobalt, nickel and other minerals.

They leave me to prepare myself in the attached full bathroom, with walls and heated floor tiles in a dusty cobalt reminiscent of the sky just before dawn in spring.

Australia sits on deposits of lithium, cobalt and manganese as well as rare earth metals used in technologies from semiconductors to defence hardware, electric cars and wind turbines.

An EV battery can account for as much as 40% of a vehicle’s total cost because they’re made up of expensive materials like lithium or cobalt, which can cost thousands of dollars per ton.

Sparkz is making lithium-iron batteries that don’t use nickel and cobalt — a composition that has long been an industry darling but that depends on imported metals.