<p>Its not that cobalt is less abundant or wide spread. What you are noticing is that <strong>gold has been mined for far longer than cobalt and is far more valuable</strong>. Gold has been mined even in antiquity and even poor deposits are usually worth extracting, so most of the large easy deposits were mined out ages ago.</p>
<p>Cobalt on the the other hand was only discovered in the early 1700's and has far less value. We still have big easy to mine deposits of cobalt and the lesser deposits are not worth mining, so we only mine the easiest places to extract it.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T08:09:42.617Z
Also, just like silver, cobalt is usually a _byproduct_ of mining other valuable metals (copper and nickel, mostly). The best grades of cobalt "ore" still contain something like 0.2-0.7% of cobalt, while the copper in the same ore is somewhere around 3-5x times as abundant. This also necessitates much processing near the mine - you don't want to ship such low-grade ores. Funnily enough, the _tailings_ from the old (less efficient) mining operations are now regularly being processed - they have higher grades than the currently mined ores :)
Luaan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T17:21:39.977Z
For a bit of scale, the gold deposits mined in the Carlin Trend (Nevada) contain 0.2-0.25 ounces of gold per ton of ore.  That's 0.001% or  less.  So for gold, an economically mineable ore is much less concentrated than one might think.  But gold is currently at $1867/oz, cobalt at $1.38.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T18:47:33.560Z
Yeah, but that kind of "mine tons to get an ounce" problem is par for the course with gold.  When you look at historic outputs of old mines, gold mines typically get many, many times the amount of silver per unit of gold they get.
Harper - Reinstate Monica
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T04:33:29.277Z
@Harper - Reinstate Monica: I don't think that's true of all gold mining - certainly not the placer mining of various gold rushes - though Nevada's Comstock Lode silver mines started out as gold mines, until some curious person wondered what that grey mud was :-)  But my point was that if cobalt was as valuable as gold, there'd probably be a lot more low-concentration deposits that would be considered workable ores.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T04:07:00.387Z
2021-05-18T19:22:45.780Z
2021-05-18T19:22:45.780Z
John
<h2>Part 1</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province contains
almost 40% of the world's reserves of cobalt [1].</p>
<p>Why are deposits concentrated so strongly in such a small portion of
the earth?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cobalt isn't as unevenly distributed as it seems. It is correct that most of the world's cobalt <strong>reserves</strong> are in DRC, but most of the cobalt <strong>resources</strong> are not in DRC. And this is a very important point.</p>
<p><strong>Resources</strong> are known and estimated quantities of economically extractable materials. <strong>Reserves</strong> are resources for which detailed plans for extraction have been made. This means that to turn a resource into a reserve you need to have plans for the extraction and refining plants, have environmental approval, have the workforce figured out, have authorisation from the owners of the land, and more. As you can guess, making a resource into a reserve is a time consuming and expensive process.</p>
<p>The reason why most of the Earth's reserves are in DRC is simply because it's easier and cheaper. The infrastructure already exists, and the expertise exists. At current technology levels and cobalt prices, the investment in defining a reserve from a resource elsewhere is simply not economical.</p>
<p>This does not mean that DRC has most of the cobalt. It only means that getting cobalt out of the ground and making it into a product is cheaper in DRC than it is in other countries.</p>
<h2>Part 2</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Do the geological processes causing this uneven distribution significantly differ from those that cause the uneven distribution of gold?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The reasons are the same, in principle. Every element behaves differently and will separate from other elements and concentrate because of various geological processes. Cobalt tends to follow copper and nickel, and in most cases it is mined as a by-product of those elements. That's why cobalt is extracted from the African <strong>Copper</strong>belt, and why it's extracted from nickel deposits in Australia. Not much point going into the chemistry and thermodynamics of why this happens, but the point is that elements which are concentrated by rare geological processes will be found in fewer places, and elements that are concentrated by common geological processes will be found in more places.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T04:38:43.657Z
"Reserves vs resources" Seems like this is the same conversation as to when we start pulling oil from the Tar Sands in Canada - we know it's there but it's only used when prices are above X (because it's not profitable under a certain price)
WernerCD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T07:54:16.890Z
I guess we don’t know half of what is beneath the oceans, but above sea level, what processes are concentrating certain elements to specific places?
Jonathan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T11:25:34.153Z
@Johnny that's more than can fit in a StackExchange answer, and dependent on element. There were many books and papers written about these topics.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T12:23:26.860Z
Where would be a good basic starting point to learn more about this?
Jonathan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-19T00:47:51.367Z
@Johnny about the resource vs reserve issue, about the geology of certain elements, or cobalt specifically?
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-19T01:06:18.610Z
@Gimelist about a natural concentration of specific minerals in certain regions.
Jonathan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-19T01:31:34.583Z
@Johnny https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/minerals-yearbook-metals-and-minerals that would be a start
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T05:51:12.113Z
2021-05-17T05:51:12.113Z
Gimelist
<p>The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province contains almost 40% of the world's reserves of cobalt [1].</p>
<p>Why are deposits concentrated so strongly in such a small portion of the earth?</p>
<p>I would have thought that this is due to similar reasons to: <a href="https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/2393">Why do gold deposits form only in certain areas of the earth?</a></p>
<p>But the distribution of cobalt seems far more uneven than that of gold.</p>
<p>Do the geological processes causing this uneven distribution significantly differ from those that cause the uneven distribution of gold?</p>
<p>[1]: British geological survey, 2009</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-16T23:13:38.220Z
More up to date figures from the [US Geological Survey 2021](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf). Congo has 50% or known reserves, Australia 19.7% & Cuba 7%.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-16T23:48:26.757Z
[*The origin of the Central African Copperbelt: in a nutshell*](http://www.saimm.co.za/Conferences/BM2013/021-Theron.pdf). [*Central African Copperbelt - Zambian Copperbelt*](http://www.portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo.asp?mineid=mn126). [Cobalt Ores](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/ores-containing-cobalt.html)
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T00:01:55.873Z
Based on a very small  sample size. If the deposits in the Congo are similar to [Kalongwe](https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20140711/pdf/42qrym6kgwv3zj.pdf), with an average grade of cobalt of 0.72% compared to the average grade at [Murrin Murrin](https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/murrin/) in Australia with an average Co grade of 0.085%, the deposits in the Congo are much richer than elsewhere & thus contain more Co per quantity of host rock. The average ore grade for DRC deposits is in the range from 0.17% to 0.25% Co.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-17T00:14:13.103Z
[*Cobalt—Styles of Deposits and the Search for Primary Deposits*](https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1155/ofr20171155.pdf) states the cobalt grades of Congo deposits is higher than elsewhere: 0.1%-1.1% for the Congo compared to 0.01% to 0.21% elsewhere, pp114-16.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T01:59:50.723Z
Related, for lithium: https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/14091/2643
Mark
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-18T13:23:26.610Z
70% of the global phosphate reserves is in Morocco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate#Mining
Daniel Darabos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-19T14:24:55.233Z
Small? DR Congo is pretty large. You could fit most of western europe's landmass inside it, if you tucked it in.
Stian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-19T14:35:56.137Z
Actually there is a lot of cobalt in the soil below the building where you are now. But it is much lesser than in the cobalt ores in the known mines. Extracting the cobalt from that soil would be astronomically more costly than buying some containers from Congo. This 40% is the 40% of the economically viable mines, and not 40% of all cobalt in the crust.
peterh
<geology><mining>
Why are cobalt deposits so unevenly distributed?
F Chopin
# Why are cobalt deposits so unevenly distributed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-16)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province contains almost 40% of the world's reserves of cobalt [1].

Why are deposits concentrated so strongly in such a small portion of the earth?

I would have thought that this is due to similar reasons to: [Why do gold deposits form only in certain areas of the earth?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/2393)

But the distribution of cobalt seems far more uneven than that of gold.

Do the geological processes causing this uneven distribution significantly differ from those that cause the uneven distribution of gold?

[1]: British geological survey, 2009

**Tags:** geology, mining

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: More up to date figures from the [US Geological Survey 2021](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf). Congo has 50% or known reserves, Australia 19.7% & Cuba 7%.  
> **username_1**: [*The origin of the Central African Copperbelt: in a nutshell*](http://www.saimm.co.za/Conferences/BM2013/021-Theron.pdf). [*Central African Copperbelt - Zambian Copperbelt*](http://www.portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo.asp?mineid=mn126). [Cobalt Ores](https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/ores-containing-cobalt.html)  
> **username_1**: Based on a very small  sample size. If the deposits in the Congo are similar to [Kalongwe](https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20140711/pdf/42qrym6kgwv3zj.pdf), with an average grade of cobalt of 0.72% compared to the average grade at [Murrin Murrin](https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/murrin/) in Australia with an average Co grade of 0.085%, the deposits in the Congo are much richer than elsewhere & thus contain more Co per quantity of host rock. The average ore grade for DRC deposits is in the range from 0.17% to 0.25% Co.  
> **username_1**: [*Cobalt—Styles of Deposits and the Search for Primary Deposits*](https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1155/ofr20171155.pdf) states the cobalt grades of Congo deposits is higher than elsewhere: 0.1%-1.1% for the Congo compared to 0.01% to 0.21% elsewhere, pp114-16.  
> **username_2**: Related, for lithium: https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/14091/2643  
> **username_3**: 70% of the global phosphate reserves is in Morocco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate#Mining  
> **username_4**: Small? DR Congo is pretty large. You could fit most of western europe's landmass inside it, if you tucked it in.  
> **username_5**: Actually there is a lot of cobalt in the soil below the building where you are now. But it is much lesser than in the cobalt ores in the known mines. Extracting the cobalt from that soil would be astronomically more costly than buying some containers from Congo. This 40% is the 40% of the economically viable mines, and not 40% of all cobalt in the crust.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_10 on 2021-05-17. Score: 30 | Accepted answer

## Part 1

> The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province contains
> almost 40% of the world's reserves of cobalt [1].
>
> Why are deposits concentrated so strongly in such a small portion of
> the earth?

Cobalt isn't as unevenly distributed as it seems. It is correct that most of the world's cobalt **reserves** are in DRC, but most of the cobalt **resources** are not in DRC. And this is a very important point.

**Resources** are known and estimated quantities of economically extractable materials. **Reserves** are resources for which detailed plans for extraction have been made. This means that to turn a resource into a reserve you need to have plans for the extraction and refining plants, have environmental approval, have the workforce figured out, have authorisation from the owners of the land, and more. As you can guess, making a resource into a reserve is a time consuming and expensive process.

The reason why most of the Earth's reserves are in DRC is simply because it's easier and cheaper. The infrastructure already exists, and the expertise exists. At current technology levels and cobalt prices, the investment in defining a reserve from a resource elsewhere is simply not economical.

This does not mean that DRC has most of the cobalt. It only means that getting cobalt out of the ground and making it into a product is cheaper in DRC than it is in other countries.

## Part 2

> Do the geological processes causing this uneven distribution significantly differ from those that cause the uneven distribution of gold?

The reasons are the same, in principle. Every element behaves differently and will separate from other elements and concentrate because of various geological processes. Cobalt tends to follow copper and nickel, and in most cases it is mined as a by-product of those elements. That's why cobalt is extracted from the African **Copper**belt, and why it's extracted from nickel deposits in Australia. Not much point going into the chemistry and thermodynamics of why this happens, but the point is that elements which are concentrated by rare geological processes will be found in fewer places, and elements that are concentrated by common geological processes will be found in more places.

> **Comments:**
> **username_11**: "Reserves vs resources" Seems like this is the same conversation as to when we start pulling oil from the Tar Sands in Canada - we know it's there but it's only used when prices are above X (because it's not profitable under a certain price)  
> **username_12**: I guess we don’t know half of what is beneath the oceans, but above sea level, what processes are concentrating certain elements to specific places?  
> **username_10**: @Johnny that's more than can fit in a StackExchange answer, and dependent on element. There were many books and papers written about these topics.  
> **username_12**: Where would be a good basic starting point to learn more about this?  
> **username_10**: @Johnny about the resource vs reserve issue, about the geology of certain elements, or cobalt specifically?  
> **username_12**: @username_10 about a natural concentration of specific minerals in certain regions.  
> **username_10**: @Johnny https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/minerals-yearbook-metals-and-minerals that would be a start  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2021-05-17. Score: 8

Its not that cobalt is less abundant or wide spread. What you are noticing is that **gold has been mined for far longer than cobalt and is far more valuable**. Gold has been mined even in antiquity and even poor deposits are usually worth extracting, so most of the large easy deposits were mined out ages ago.

Cobalt on the the other hand was only discovered in the early 1700's and has far less value. We still have big easy to mine deposits of cobalt and the lesser deposits are not worth mining, so we only mine the easiest places to extract it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Also, just like silver, cobalt is usually a _byproduct_ of mining other valuable metals (copper and nickel, mostly). The best grades of cobalt "ore" still contain something like 0.2-0.7% of cobalt, while the copper in the same ore is somewhere around 3-5x times as abundant. This also necessitates much processing near the mine - you don't want to ship such low-grade ores. Funnily enough, the _tailings_ from the old (less efficient) mining operations are now regularly being processed - they have higher grades than the currently mined ores :)  
> **username_8**: For a bit of scale, the gold deposits mined in the Carlin Trend (Nevada) contain 0.2-0.25 ounces of gold per ton of ore.  That's 0.001% or  less.  So for gold, an economically mineable ore is much less concentrated than one might think.  But gold is currently at $1867/oz, cobalt at $1.38.  
> **username_9**: Yeah, but that kind of "mine tons to get an ounce" problem is par for the course with gold.  When you look at historic outputs of old mines, gold mines typically get many, many times the amount of silver per unit of gold they get.  
> **username_8**: @username_9: I don't think that's true of all gold mining - certainly not the placer mining of various gold rushes - though Nevada's Comstock Lode silver mines started out as gold mines, until some curious person wondered what that grey mud was :-)  But my point was that if cobalt was as valuable as gold, there'd probably be a lot more low-concentration deposits that would be considered workable ores.  

---

