CONCERNS about the role of artisanal mining, including child labour, in the extraction of cobalt have triggered a scientific scramble to find alternatives to the battery metal. This is already showing promise, not least because the likes of the US government and Elon Musk's Tesla have been giving it their full attention.
Musk declared in 2018 that EV maker Tesla was aiming to have batteries that would not use cobalt. Last year, the company said half of the vehicles produced in the first quarter of 2022 had cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
Elsewhere, scientists at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have created a lithium-iode cathode - which delivers electricity to a battery - that is heavy in nickel but has no cobalt.
These are just a couple of examples underlying the strides that have been made and manganese is also seen as cobalt alternative - good news for South Africa, which accounts for 80% of supplies.
