Glencore to restart at world's biggest cobalt mine

Commodity trader and miner Glencore is planning to restart operations at the world's biggest cobalt mine, located in Democratic Republic of Congo, next year.

That's according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking to Reuters.

Operations were suspended at the Mutanda cobalt and copper mine in November 2019.

Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg said falling cobalt prices, increased costs and higher taxes had dented its economic viability.

But with copper now at record highs of above $10,000 a ton, and cobalt up almost 40% since the start of 2021, market focus has returned to Mutanda.

Renewed output from the mine - which produced 199,000 tons of copper and over 27,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide in 2018 - could help ease shortages that analysts are expecting for next year.

That will potentially cap further price gains.

While copper is a vital for the power and construction industries, cobalt hydroxide, produced at Mutanda as a by-product of copper mining, is seeing rising demand due to its use in the fast-growing electric vehicle sector.