The Metal Bulletin reports – Cobalt at Centre of Breathtaking Scientific Discovery – the “…salt which comes from cobalt, could have a lot of useful and potentially life-changing applications. It could feed high concentrations of oxygen into hydrogen fuel cells, lightening the load for lung patients who have to carry around heavy oxygen tanks. And scuba divers could potentially leave their tanks at home.” There are also implications for for Manned Space Exploration.
Because it can absorb and release oxygen many times, this cobalt material has amazing potential for life-changing applications such as fuel cells, medical breathing machines, mountain climbing, space travel, firefighting and scuba diving where bulky and cumbersome oxygen tanks are required.
Many readers on this blog may not know much about cobalt, a minor metal but one which will have growing uses in emerging technologies including super alloys, super magnets, B12 vitamins, catalysts and colouring to name just a few. For example it is a major component of many of the rechargeable lithium ion batteries used in your laptops, smartphones and future rechargeable cars, motorbikes and trucks. Panasonic together with Tesla, a USA car manufacturer, recently announced plans for new battery ‘gigafactory’ which will produce many hundreds of thousands of Li-Co batteries during coming years. www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/20/tesla-motors-inc-is-itching-for-more-and-better-ba.aspx
Cobalt is also emerging as critical for much larger energy storage. For example the Hawaiian island of Kauai is planning an energy storage system based on lithium-ion (cobalt containing) batteries. This will support Kauai’s energy grid to supply about 65,000 islanders. www.indmin.com/Article/3365258/Hawaiian-island-to-run-on-lithium-ion-batteries.html?goback=%2Egde_2574880_member_5898427797935792129
So where does cobalt come from you ask? About 60% of the worlds cobalt is produced as a bi-product from copper mining in the remote and unstable DR Congo in central Africa. Most of the rest trickles out of nickel mines around the world. We are fortunate in Australia to have some of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of cobalt outside the DR Congo so maybe we will see a new mining boom when these new technologies take hold.
And the price of cobalt?
Co price on LME trades between AUD31,000-AUD33,000 per tonne …. up from about $27,000 in January.
For the Brits that’s about $15 a pound
I thought you may also be interested to know that cobalt is the main component in vitamin B12.
Bacteria within the stomach of mammals that acquire nutrients from plant-based food (e.g. goats, sheep, cattle) require cobalt to synthesise vitamin B12, which is essential for energy metabolism and growth. Vitamin B12 is a cobalt-based compound which plays a key role in blood upkeep and in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system.
It’d be an interesting study to find out if the oxygen storage properties of the cobalt compounds identified in this recent discovery are related to cobalt’s function in blood upkeep as vitamin B12 – maybe through oxygen storage/fixing?