Cobalt Reserves by Country 2024

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is said to be home to more than 50 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves and tops every list of cobalt reserves by country. The DRC has an estimated 3.6 million tonnes of cobalt available for extraction. The largest mines are located in Katanga, where the largest producers include Glencore and Gecamines.

The country expects to invest more into its cobalt mining, hoping to launch its own state-backed organization that will hold the rights to all mined cobalt. This is with the intention of controlling the revenue gleaned from the cobalt, for the nation’s purpose.

Cobalt Reserves in Australia

The cobalt reserves in Australia are second on the list of cobalt reserves by country, with an estimated 1.4 million tonnes of cobalt available for extraction in Australia. This is approximately 20 percent of the entire world’s supply of cobalt. The country has an incredible amount of cobalt reserves, and the potential to earn the nickname as one of the most prominent producers of the metal in the world.

Here, Glencore also has a mine, one that also extracts nickel. Many new projects are being considered by Australia with Glencore, for the purpose of producing more revenue

Cobalt Reserves Elsewhere in the World

Cuba is the third-largest holder of cobalt reserves in the world, chiming in with approximately 500,000 tonnes. It is ranked number five in the world for cobalt output and put out approximately 3.6 thousand tonnes in 2020. The largest region for cobalt in Cuba is the Moa region, where nickel is also extracted. The largest companies mining here are Sherritt International based in Canada and the General Nickel Company of Cuba.

After Cuba, the largest cobalt reserves by country are as follows:

• The Philippines, 260,000 tonnes
• Russia, 250,000 tonnes
• Canada, 220,000 tonnes

The Philippines is said to be home to approximately four percent of the world’s cobalt reserves, and was the number four producer in the world in 2020, even over Cuba. Philippines operations are located in Adlay-Cagdianao-Tandawa through CTP Construction and Mining.

Russia has a large reserve of cobalt and is number two in the world for producing, producing 6,300 tonnes in the year 2020. Siberia is a key location for the Russian mining of cobalt.

Canada holds the sixth-largest reserves of cobalt in the world, which still is a good three percent of the world’s total amount of cobalt.