12/8/2023 0 Comments Cobalt mines in ukraineIt seeks to ensure that only artisanal cobalt extracted in accordance with the standards can be shipped out of the country. The government launched its Responsible Sourcing Standards for artisanal cobalt production in 2021 and created the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC), a new state entity to regulate the buying and selling of artisanal cobalt. The weakness of the DRC government has impeded progress. While large-scale operators acknowledge pressing human rights issues in artisanal mining sites, they enter extraction contracts that exclude ASM to avoid these risks and costs in their operating environment. These measures come with costs that most companies are not willing to absorb. These intersections during extraction and refining make it virtually impossible to separate ASM cobalt from industrially mined material. The traders then send the ore to refineries in the DRC and later in China, where almost 80 per cent is processed. They sell the cobalt to local traders, most of whom are Chinese. However, the situation is complex.Įvery day, tens of thousands of people in the DRC try to scrape out small amounts of mineral ore on the periphery of the large-scale mining operations. Aware of this concern, large mining companies such as Glencore, based in Switzerland, typically assert that their output includes only cobalt from large industrial mines. They regard it as a risk to their reputation, a perspective reinforced by investors. Most car-manufacturing and electronics companies try to avoid including ASM cobalt in their supply chains. The challenge of making mining accountable Because of the proximity of informal and formal operations, and a lack of effective regulation, artisanal operations are intrinsic to the overall cobalt supply chain. Operating on the periphery of large industrial mining sites, ASM miners use makeshift methods to dig deep tunnels from which they collect cobalt ore and employ an estimated 25,000 children. The typical battery for an electric vehicle contains about 8kg of cobalt and global demand is projected to triple by 2035.Īt least 70 per cent of cobalt comes from the DRC, of which between one-sixth and one-third is produced by informal or artisanal small-scale mining (ASM). Yet battery-powered cars and trucks depend on cobalt, a mineral found primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where child labour and unsafe mining conditions are common. The talks are online (Microsoft Teams).Simply sign up to the Masters in Management myFT Digest - delivered directly to your inbox.ĭemand for electric vehicles has increased sharply in response to concern about climate change. The goal of the Circular Industries talks is to share knowledge across Leiden, Delft and Erasmus and to complement and deepen the knowledge already available within the Circular Industries Hub. The talks are organized on Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:00. Watch it here The Circular Industries talks Diversifying supply, reducing demand and increasing control over supply chains might help the EU to reduce its dependency in this matter. Altogether, the supply of these materials is associated with constraints and disruption risks. Moreover, the EU will be dependent on third countries, like China, for these materials, resulting in a very powerful position in the geopolitical playing field for these countries. It becomes clear that these materials may lack availability on the short term, since opening new mines and thus increasing supply takes 10-15 years. The case of Electric Vehicle (EV) implementation is used to illustrate the growing demand of these materials, and the supply chains of the materials are discussed. The war exposes a paradox: for the EU to become more independent and self-sufficient regarding its energy, it will be dependent on third countries regarding raw materials instead. The Russian invasion in Ukraine affects global trade and supply chains, of commodities like food but also of raw materials required for the energy transition. The Russian invasion in Ukraine and raw materials for the energy transition Maarten Koese Here, we look back on the content of his talk. In his talk, Maarten discussed how the Russian invasion in Ukraine affects global trade and supply chains, of commodities like food but also of raw materials required for the energy transition. Maarten Koese is a soon-to-be PhD student at Leiden University. On Wednesday June 17th, Maarten Koese joined us as a guest speaker. The Circular Industries Hub organises the Circular Industries Talk every second Wednesday of the month.
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