Glencore Plc, the world's leading producer of battery metal cobalt, announced this week that it has joined a new initiative to support informal miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the industry is trying to dispel automakers’ doubts about whether battery metal mining is ethical. Occasion.
Glencore said on Monday that the company has joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance. The company's long-standing attitude is that buying cobalt from industrial mines rather than informal mines is best for the automotive industry. The goal of the Fair Cobalt Alliance (FCA) is to end the use of child labor in mining sites and improve mining conditions in Congo. Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd., a major cobalt refiner in China, also joined the alliance.
Glencore's entry into the FCA comes at an important moment in the cobalt industry. Earlier this year, electric car maker Tesla agreed to buy cobalt from Glencore’s Congo mine to avoid future supply constraints. Considering that this metal is expensive and highly concentrated in one country, battery manufacturers increasingly hope to take the initiative in metal supply.
Glencore chief cobalt trader David Brocas said, “FCA is a tool for all companies in the supply chain to cooperate with the government and civil society of the Democratic Republic of Congo, aiming to transform the artisanal mining industry into a fair, safe and responsible source of cobalt mining. ."
Nearly three-quarters of the world's cobalt comes from Congo, and Glencore is the owner of the two largest cobalt mines in Congo. It is expected that Congo’s cobalt demand will soar in the next few years, driven by electric vehicle sales.
However, some international organizations, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have warned against mining risks from the informal industry. In the informal sector, independent miners manually mine, and the metal manually mined in Congo is often mixed with mine output.
Glencore has long positioned itself as the main source of responsible cobalt mining. The company has signed supply agreements with China GEM Co., Ltd. and BMW Motor Company, and unlike some competitors, the company has always avoided purchasing from manual suppliers. Glencore currently has no plans to change this policy.
