Over the past year, the US government has moved rapidly to scour the world for new cobalt supplies and deploying cobalt-free batteries, but all that falls far short of Chinese efforts to take over resources critical to a green future, including cobalt, lithium and others
Chinese-owned cobalt and copper mine in Kisanfu, Congo, April 27, 2021. The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. (Ashley Gilbertson/The New York Times)
WASHINGTON — Tom Perriello saw it coming but could do nothing to stop it. André Kapanga too. Despite urgent emails, phone calls and personal pleas, they watched helplessly as a company backed by the Chinese government took ownership from the Americans of one of the world’s largest cobalt mines.
It was 2016, and a deal had been struck by the Arizona-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to sell the site, located in Congo, which now figures prominently in China’s grip on the global cobalt supply. The metal has been among several essential raw materials needed for the production of electric car batteries — and is now critical to retiring the combustion engine and weaning the world off climate-changing fossil fuels.
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