America’s First, and Only, Cobalt Mine in Decades Is Opening
Idaho’s cobalt mine is the only cobalt mine in the United States.
According to OPB, the $100 million enterprise that publicly traded Jervois is launching will, even at full production, amount to a small blip in the global market. Once fully operational, the Idaho mine is expected to meet only about 10% of overall U.S. demand. Enough for several hundred thousand electric cars, the company says.
“It will be a while before we can actually say that this is going to be a growth industry,” says Brad Martin, director of the RAND National Security Supply Chain Institute. “To think that we’re going to be able to move all this back into the United States in short order and be self sufficient is not right.”
