Why is cobalt so expensive if miners are paid so poorly?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I spit all over my screen when I saw this, thanks for the laugh!!
The supply of cobalt and nickel cannot meet the demand for lithium ion batteries in the West. Prices have increased over 1500% for lithium.
The CCP is the primary consumer of these raw materials as they make most of the batteries. I wonder if they have given the “artisanal miners” a raise that reflects the fruits of their labor being worth 10x or more what it used to be when this began........ Somehow, I doubt the cost increases have benefited these “workers”.
The ugly secret of LIB’s (lithium ion batteries) is that they are NOT being recycled. It is cost-prohibitive to separate and purify the recovered materials to the degree necessary to make new batteries from old.
The only good news is that the “cost” of LIB’s is driving the search and adoption of newer battery technologies that are cheaper/safer and don’t involve the $hit show we see in the Congo.