According to OilPrice.com, the rise of clean energy is creating a supply crunch for a little-known resource - cobalt.
Largely ignored, there hasn't been any exploration of cobalt in years. However, according to OilPrice.com, demand for cobalt is soaring and companies such as Vale SA, Kandi Technologies Group, Inc., FMC Corp, Plug Power Inc., Delphi Automotive are watching closely.
Cobalt is a lesser-known yet essential component of electric vehicle batteries, and the world's supply isn't keeping up with demand.
Additionally, today's consumers and investors are increasingly socially conscious.
The current challenge is that there are very few cobalt producers working in ethical jurisdictions - in fact, 50 percent of cobalt is currently sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
One company poised to meet the growing need for cobalt is US Cobalt (formerly Scientific Metals). The company has recently attracted the attention of an influential group of large investors.
This $35 million market cap company is sitting on a project with an anticipated 1.3 million tons of cobalt. The price of cobalt is currently $25 USD/lb - which is almost 100 percent more than it was 6 months ago. There are indications in US Cobalt's historical data that there could be as much as five times that current estimate sitting on the property.
