Cobalt
<p>Cobalt is a silvery gray metal that has diverse uses based on certain key properties, including ferromagnetism, hardness and wear-resistance when alloyed…
Public-domain full text preserved in the Mountain Man Mining Library. Original source: pubs.usgs.gov.
Cobalt Chapter F of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply Underground Photograph of the Skuterud Mine Showing Pink Erythrite Professional Paper 1802-F U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey
Periodic Table of Elements Ta bl e El em en t Modified from Los Alamos National Laboratory Chemistry Division; available at ://periodic.lanl.gov/images/periodictable.pdf. Cover. Underground photo of the Skuterud Mine in Norway showing pink secondary erythrite (a hydrated cobalt arsenate mineral). Photograph by John F. Slack, U.S. Geological Survey.
Cobalt By John F. Slack, Bryn E. Kimball, and Kim B. Shedd Chapter F of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply Edited by Klaus J. Schulz, John H. DeYoung, Jr., Robert R. Seal II, and Dwight C. Bradley Professional Paper 1802-F U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior RYAN K. ZINKE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey William H. Werkheiser, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit ://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit ://store.usgs.gov/. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Slack, J.F., Kimball, B.E., and Shedd, K.B., 2017, Cobalt, chap. F of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. F1- F40, ://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802F. ISSN 2330-7102 (online)
Contents Abstract F1 Introduction F1 Cobalt Uses, Demand, and Availability of Supply F1 Strategic and Critical Resource Issues F3 Geology F4 Geochemistry F4 Mineralogy F4 Principal Deposit Types F4 Stratiform Sediment-Hosted Cu-Co Deposits F4 Ni-Co Laterite Deposits F4 Magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) Sulfide Deposits F5 Other Deposit Types F5 Black-Shale-Hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co Deposits F5 Fe-Cu-Co Skarn and Replacement Deposits F5 Iron Oxide-Cu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni) Deposits F8 Metasedimentary-Rock-Hosted Co-Cu-Au Deposits F8 Mississippi Valley-Type Zn-Pb(-Co-Ni) Sulfide Deposits F8 Polymetallic (Ag-Ni-Co-As-Bi) and Other Cobalt-Rich Vein Deposits F8 Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) Massive Sulfide Deposits F8 Sea-Floor Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) Nodules F9 Sea-Floor Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-REE) Crusts F9 Sea-Floor Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) Massive Sulfide Deposits F9 Resources and Production F10 Production and Identified Resources F10 Grade-Tonnage Characteristics F10 Mining Methods F13 Typical Mine Life F14 Ore-Processing Methods F14 Undiscovered Resources F14 Unconventional Resources F14 Metamorphosed Black Shales F14 Modern Sea-Floor Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits F15 Ancient Ni-Co Laterites F15 Ancient Fe-Mn(-Cu-Co-Ni) Nodules F15 Ancient Cobalt-Rich Manganese Deposits F15 Ultramafic Igneous Rocks F15 Exploration for New Deposits F15 Environmental Considerations F16 Sources and Fate in the Environment F16 Mine Waste Characteristics F16 Human Health Concerns F17 Ecological Health Concerns F18 Mine Closure F19 Problems and Future Research F19 Acknowledgments F20 References Cited F20
Figures
F1. Pie chart showing major end uses of cobalt as a percentage of consumption worldwide in 2011 F2
F2. Bar chart showing world cobalt mine and refinery production and apparent consumption from 2007 to 2011 F2
F3. Graph showing world cobalt mine production from 1950 to 2011 F3
F4. Pie chart showing percentage of world cobalt mine production in 2011, by country F3
F5. Pie chart showing percentage of world cobalt mine production in 2011, by deposit type F10
F6. Grade-tonnage plot for 214 cobalt deposits worldwide F11
F7. World map showing global distribution of major cobalt-bearing mineral deposits and selected smaller deposits that represent minor types F12
F8. Pie charts showing proportions of cobalt contained in mineral deposits worldwide, by deposit type F13 Tables
F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world F34
F2. Cobalt concentrations in rocks, soils, waters, and air F6
Conversion Factors International System of Units to Inch/Pound Multiply By To obtain Length angstrom (Å) (0.1 nanometer) microinch angstrom (Å) (0.1 nanometer) 0.000003937 mil micrometer (µm) [or micron] mil millimeter (mm) inch (in.) centimeter (cm) inch (in.) meter (m) foot (ft) meter (m) yard (yd) kilometer (km) mile (mi) Area hectare (ha) acre square kilometer (km2) acre square meter (m2) square foot (ft2) square centimeter (cm2) square inch (ft2) square kilometer (km2) square mile (mi2) Volume milliliter (mL) ounce, fluid (fl. oz) liter (L) ounce, fluid (fl. oz) liter (L) quart (qt) liter (L) gallon (gal) cubic meter (m3) gallon (gal) cubic centimeter (cm3) cubic inch (in3) cubic meter (m3) cubic yard (yd3) cubic kilometer (km3) cubic mile (mi3) Mass microgram (μg) 0.00000003527 ounce, avoirdupois (oz) milligram (mg) 0.00003527 ounce, avoirdupois (oz) gram (g) ounce, avoirdupois (oz) gram (g) 0.03215075 ounce, troy kilogram (kg) ounce, troy kilogram (kg) pound avoirdupois (lb) ton, metric (t) ton, short [2,000 lb] ton, metric (t) ton, long [2,240 lb] Deposit grade gram per metric ton (g/t) 0.0291667 ounce per short ton (2,000 lb) (oz/T) Pressure megapascal (MPa) bar gigapascal (GPa) 10,000 bar Density gram per cubic centimeter (g/cm3) pound per cubic foot (lb/ft3) milligram per cubic meter (mg/m3) 0.00000006243 pound per cubic foot (lb/ft3) Energy joule (J) 0.0000002 kilowatthour (kWh) joule (J) 6.241 × 1018 electronvolt (eV) joule (J) calorie (cal) kilojoule (kJ) 0.0002388 kilocalorie (kcal)
International System of Units to Inch/Pound Multiply By To obtain Radioactivity becquerel (Bq) 0.00002703 microcurie (μCi) kilobecquerel (kBq) microcurie (μCi) Electrical resistivity ohm meter (Ω-m) ohm inch (Ω-in.) ohm-centimeter (Ω-cm) ohm inch (Ω-in.) Thermal conductivity watt per centimeter per degree Celsius (watt/cm °C) International British thermal unit inch per hour per square foot per degree Fahrenheit (Btu in/h ft2 °F) watt per meter kelvin (W/m-K) International British thermal unit inch per hour per square foot per degree Fahrenheit (Btu in/h ft2 °F) Inch/Pound to International System of Units Length mil micrometer (µm) [or micron] inch (in.) centimeter (cm) inch (in.) millimeter (mm) foot (ft) meter (m) mile (mi) kilometer (km) Volume ounce, fluid (fl. oz) milliliter (mL) ounce, fluid (fl. oz) liter (L) Mass ounce, avoirdupois (oz) 28,350,000 microgram ounce, avoirdupois (oz) 28,350 milligram ounce, avoirdupois (oz) gram (g) ounce, troy 31.10 348 gram (g) ounce, troy 0.03110348 kilogram (kg) pound, avoirdupois (lb) kilogram (kg) ton, short (2,000 lb) ton, metric (t) ton, long (2,240 lb) ton, metric (t) Deposit grade ounce per short ton (2,000 lb) (oz/T) 34.285714 gram per metric ton (g/t) Energy kilowatthour (kWh) 3,600,000 joule (J) electronvolt (eV) 1.602 × 10-19 joule (J) Radioactivity microcurie (μCi) 37,000 becquerel (Bq) microcurie (μCi) kilobecquerel (kBq) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows:
°F (1.8 × °C) + 32 Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to kelvin (K) as follows:
K °C + 273.15 Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) may be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) as follows:
°C (°F - 32) / 1.8
Datum Unless otherwise stated, vertical and horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 84). Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. Supplemental Information Specific conductance is given in microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius (µS/cm at 25 °C). Concentrations of chemical constituents in soils and (or) sediment are given in milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), parts per million (ppm), or parts per billion (ppb). Concentrations of chemical constituents in water are given in milligrams per liter (mg/L), micrograms per liter (µg/L), nanogams per liter (ng/L), nanomoles per kilogram (nmol/kg), parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), or parts per trillion (ppt). Concentrations of suspended particulates in water are given in micrograms per gram (µg/g), milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), or femtograms per gram (fg/g). Concentrations of chemicals in air are given in units of the mass of the chemical (milligrams, micrograms, nanograms, or picograms) per volume of air (cubic meter). Activities for radioactive constituents in air are given in microcuries per milliliter (μCi/mL). Deposit grades are commonly given in percent, grams per metric ton (g/t)—which is equivalent to parts per million (ppm)—or troy ounces per short ton (oz/T). Geologic ages are expressed in mega-annum (Ma, million years before present, or 10 6 years ago) or giga-annum (Ga, billion years before present, or 10 9 years ago). For ranges of years, "to" and (or) the en dash ("-") mean "up to and including." Concentration unit Equals milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) part per million microgram per gram (µg/g) part per million microgram per kilogram (μg/kg) part per billion (109) Equivalencies part per million (ppm): 1 ppm 1,000 ppb 1,000,000 ppt 0.0001 percent part per billion (ppb): 0.001 ppm 1 ppb 1,000 ppt 0.0000001 percent part per trillion (ppt): 0.000001 ppm 0.001 ppb 1 ppt 0.0000000001 percent Metric system prefixes tera- (T-) 1 trillion giga- (G-) 1 billion mega- (M-) 1 million kilo- (k-) 1 thousand hecto- (h-) 1 hundred deka- (da-) 1 ten deci- (d-) 10-1 1 tenth centi- (c-) 10-2 1 hundredth milli- (m-) 10-3 1 thousandth micro- (µ-) 10-6 1 millionth nano- (n-) 10-9 1 billionth pico- (p-) 10-12 1 trillionth femto- (f-) 10-15 1 quadrillionth atto- (a-) 10-18 1 quintillionth
Abbreviations and Symbols δ-MnO2 delta-manganese dioxide µCi/mL microcurie per milliliter µg/g microgram per gram µg/kg microgram per kilogram µg/L microgram per liter Å angstrom AMD acid mine drainage CCD carbonate compensation depth CCZ Clarion-Clipperton zone cm centimeter Congo (Kinshasa) Democratic Republic of the Congo EC50 effective concentration 50 (concentration that results in 50 percent exhibiting decreased functionality) EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EIS environmental impact statement EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency IOCG iron oxide-copper-gold lethal concentration 50 (concentration that kills 50 percent of test population within a given timeframe) m meter mg/kg milligram per kilogram mg/L milligram per liter MTR Maderia-Tore Rise MVT Mississippi Valley-type ng/m3 nanogram per cubic meter NTP National Toxicology Program PGE platinum-group element ppm part per million REE rare-earth element VMS volcanogenic massive sulfide
Cobalt By John F. Slack, Bryn E. Kimball, and Kim B. Shedd Abstract Cobalt is a silvery gray metal that has diverse uses based on certain key properties, including ferromagnetism, hardness and wear-resistance when alloyed with other metals, low thermal and electrical conductivity, high melting point, multiple valences, and production of intense blue colors when combined with silica. Cobalt is used mostly in cathodes in rechargeable batteries and in superalloys for turbine engines in jet aircraft. Annual global cobalt consumption was approximately 75,000 metric tons in 2011; China, Japan, and the United States (in order of consumption amount) were the top three cobaltconsuming countries. In 2011, approximately 109,000 metric tons of recoverable cobalt was produced in ores, concentrates, and intermediate products from cobalt, copper, nickel, platinumgroup-element (PGE), and zinc operations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]) was the principal source of mined cobalt globally (55 percent). The United States produced a negligible amount of byproduct cobalt as an intermediate product from a PGE mining and refining opera tion in southeastern Montana; no U.S. production was from mines in which cobalt was the principal commodity. China was the leading refiner of cobalt, and much of its production came from cobalt ores, concentrates, and partially refined materials imported from Congo (Kinshasa). The mineralogy of cobalt deposits is diverse and includes both primary (hypogene) and secondary (supergene) phases. Principal terrestrial (land-based) deposit types, which repre sent most of world's cobalt mine production, include primary magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfides, primary and secondary stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co sulfides and oxides, and secondary Ni-Co laterites. Seven additional terrestrial deposit types are described in this chapter. The total terrestrial cobalt resource (reserves plus other resources) plus past production, where available, is calculated to be 25.5 million metric tons. Additional resources of cobalt are known to occur on the modern sea floor in aerially extensive deposits of Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) nodules and Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-rareearth-element) crusts. Legal, economic, and technological barriers have prevented exploitation of these cobalt resources, which lie at water depths of as great as 6,000 meters, although advances in technology may soon allow production of these resources to be economically viable. Environmental issues related to cobalt mining concern mainly the elevated cobalt contents in soils and waters. Although at low levels cobalt is essential to human health (it is the central atom in the critical nutrient vitamin B12 ), overexposure to high levels of cobalt may cause lung and heart dysfunction, as well as dermatitis. The ecological impacts of cobalt vary widely and can be severe for some species of fish and plants, depending on various environmental factors. Introduction Cobalt Uses, Demand, and Availability of Supply Cobalt is a technologically important metal that has many diverse uses, including in batteries, superalloys, and cemented carbides and diamond tools (fig. F1). Globally, the leading use is in the manufacture of cathode materials for rechargeable batteries, primarily lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium, and nickel-metal-hydride batteries, which are used in consumer electronics, electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, energy storage units, and power tools. Superalloys are alloys developed for high-temperature service where relatively high mechanical stress is encountered and where surface stability is frequently required. The principal use for superalloys is in parts for turbine engines for jet aircraft and terrestrial energy generation. Cemented carbides, which are composite materials made of cobalt and tungsten carbide, are used as cutting tools and wear-resistant components by the metalworking, mining, oil and gas drilling, and construction industries. Diamond tools are similar to cemented carbides in that cobalt is the matrix that binds the wear-resistant particles together. Cobalt is used to make permanent and soft magnetic alloys. Cobaltbearing steels include high-speed steels for cutting tools and maraging steels, which are characterized by their great strength, toughness, and workability. Other cobalt-bearing alloys are characterized by their resistance to corrosion and (or) wear or by their particular thermal expansion properties. Additional chemical applications for cobalt include animal
F2 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt feed additives; bonding agents in steel-belted radial tires; catalysts for chemical, petroleum, and other industries; drying agents for paint; glass decolorizers; ground coat frits for porcelain enamels; humidity indicators; magnetic recording media; pigments; and vitamin B12. In recent years, annual global cobalt consumption (shown as "apparent consumption" in fig. F2) has generally trended upward to approximately 75,000 metric tons. World apparent consumption is the sum of apparent consumption calculated for individual countries; the calculation for each country uses reported data for production, trade, and stock variations, where available. China, Japan, and the United States (in order of consumption amount) are the top three cobalt-consuming countries (Cobalt Development Institute and World Bureau of Metal Statistics, 2011; Cobalt Development Institute, 2012). From 1950 to 2011, global mine production of cobalt increased by more than an order of magnitude (fig. F3). In 2011, approximately 109,000 metric tons of recoverable cobalt was produced in ores, concentrates, and intermediate products from cobalt, copper, nickel, platinum-group-element (PGE), and zinc operations (fig. F2). More than one-half of the world's cobalt was mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]). Other leading countries where cobalt was mined are shown in figure F4 (Shedd, 2013a). Trends in cobalt mineral exploration and supply are discussed in Wilburn (2012), Menzie and others (2013), and Shedd (2013a). Deposit types from which cobalt currently is mined are discussed in the Resources and Production section of this chapter. Table F1 (back of chapter) gives locations and grade-tonnage data for significant cobalt deposits of the world. In 2011, the United States produced a negligible amount of byproduct cobalt as an intermediate product from Stillwater Mining Co.'s PGE mining and refining operation in south eastern Montana. Since then, minor amounts of byproduct cobalt in nickel concentrate have been produced from Lundin Mining Corp.'s underground Eagle Mine, which is a highgrade magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide orebody located northwest of Marquette, Michigan, where mining began in 2014. No U.S. production was from mines in which cobalt was the principal commodity. Other projects in the feasibility and development stages include Formation Metals Inc.'s underground cobalt mine to be constructed in a strata-bound Co-Cu-Au deposit in the Blackbird district (part of the Idaho cobalt belt) in Lemhi County and PolyMet Mining Corp.'s open pit mine to be constructed in the NorthMet Cu-Ni-CoPGE deposit in the Duluth Complex, which is a large mafic intrusive complex in northeastern Minnesota. Cobalt would be produced as a byproduct from the NorthMet project. China was the leading refiner of cobalt in 2011, with much of its production coming from cobalt ores, concentrates, and partially refined materials imported from Congo (Kinshasa). Other significant sources of refined cobalt were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Congo (Kinshasa), Finland, Norway, and Zambia. Refined cobalt from Belgium and Finland was wholly or mainly produced from imported material, respectively (Shedd, 2013a). Figure F1 Pie Chart S how ing Uses of Colba lt Figure F1. Pie chart showing major end uses of cobalt as a percentage of consumption worldwide in 2011. Data are from the Cobalt Development Institute (2012). F ig ure F2 - B ar C hart Sho wing Wor ld Cobalt Production Figure F2. Bar chart showing world cobalt mine and refinery production and apparent consumption from 2007 to 2011. Mine production consists of the recoverable cobalt content of ores, concentrates, and intermediate products from cobalt, copper, nickel, platinum-group-element, and zinc operations. World apparent consumption is the sum of apparent consumption calculated for individual countries. The calculation for each country uses reported data for production, trade, and stock variations, where available. Apparent consumption data are from the Cobalt Development Institute and World Bureau of Metal Statistics (2011) and the Cobalt Development Institute (2012); production data are from Shedd (2013a).
Introduction F3 Fi gur e F Gr aph Show ing W orld Cobal t Min e Pro ducti on Figure F3. Graph showing world cobalt mine production from 1950 to 2011. Production consists of the recoverable cobalt content of ores, concentrates, and intermediate products from cobalt, copper, nickel, platinum-groupelement, and zinc operations. Data are from U.S. Geological Survey (2013). Figur e F4 - Pie Ch art Sh ow ing W or ld Cob al t Mine P rodu ct ion in 20 Figure F4. Pie chart showing percentage of world cobalt mine production in 2011, by country. The sources of production are cobalt, copper, nickel, platinum-group-element, and zinc operations. Data are from Shedd (2013a). Congo (Kinshasa) is a short-form name for Democratic Republic of the Congo. Strategic and Critical Resource Issues Cobalt is generally critical to the performance of the products in which it is used. Past periods of high prices and concern about availability have resulted in various efforts to conserve, reduce the use of, or substitute for cobalt. In many applications, further substitution would result in a loss in product performance and (or) increased cost. Cobalt's diverse uses—particularly in parts for aircraft turbine engines; in numerous magnet applications, including marine propulsion systems, missile guidance systems, sensors, and radar; and in machine tools—make it important to the U.S. military and civilian industries. That nearly all cobalt is mined as a byproduct of other, more abundant metals, such as nickel or copper, means that production is driven primarily by the markets for the principal metals, not by the need for cobalt. This situation limits producers' flexibility in adjusting the amount of cobalt mined in response to changes in demand and can result in periods of oversupply or shortage. From 2009 to 2015, global cobalt production was higher than consumption, as production from new projects and from expansions to existing operations added to global supply. This trend led to a market surplus and downward pressure on prices (Shedd, 2013a, b; Searle, 2015; Spencer, 2016). More than one-half of the world's cobalt supply is mined in Congo (Kinshasa). This country has a high risk index for doing business owing to poor infrastructure, resource nationalism, a high perception of corruption, and a lack of transparency as well as wars during the 1990s to early 2000s, persistent tension in the eastern part of the country with substantial risk of civil war, and conflicts with neighboring Rwanda (Bedder, 2013; The Coface Group, undated). Although civil unrest in the eastern part of Congo (Kinshasa) has not affected the cobalt-producing areas, problems with infrastructure (particularly power and transportation) and reviews of and changes to mining contracts have slowed some of the potential growth in mine development and production. In spite of these issues, the copper-cobalt mining industry in Congo (Kinshasa) has significantly recovered from the collapse in production that took place in the 1990s (Shedd, 2013a). The United States is highly reliant on imports for its cobalt needs. In recent years, approximately 75 to 80 percent of the U.S. cobalt supply has come from imports and releases from the National Defense Stockpile; the remaining 20 to 25 percent has been from recycled scrap. This high reliance on imports increases the potential for supply disruption and high prices during supply shortfalls. The leading source of refined cobalt for the United States is China (Shedd, 2013a, b).
F4 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Geology Geochemistry Cobalt is a silvery gray metal with diverse uses based on certain key properties, including hardness, wear-resistance when alloyed with other metals, low thermal and electrical conductivity, high melting point, multiple valences, and production of intense blue colors when combined with silica. Cobalt also is ferromagnetic, and it retains this property at the highest temperature of any metal. Although pure cobalt is not found in nature, cobalt-bearing minerals and compounds are numerous and widespread. The ionic radius of cobalt is 0.72 angstroms (Å) for Co2+ and 0.63 Å for Co3+, both of which are similar to the ionic radii of Mg2+, Mn4+, Fe2+, Fe3+, and Ni2+, thus allowing substitution under favorable condi tions for these elements by cobalt within many minerals and other phases. Among common rock types, the highest average cobalt content occurs in ultramafic igneous rocks, such as dunite and serpentinite, which contain, on average, 109 and 115 parts per million (ppm) cobalt, respectively (table F2); mafic igneous rocks such as basalt contain, on average, about 47 ppm cobalt. For comparison, Earth's bulk continental crust, including all rock types, contains 29 ppm cobalt, on average. Lower cobalt contents characterize shale (which averages 19 ppm), as well as granite and related felsic igneous rocks (which average 2 to 3 ppm) (table F2). Mineralogy The mineralogy of cobalt deposits is diverse and includes both primary (hypogene) and secondary (supergene) phases. In primary deposits, most cobalt is recovered from sulfide minerals, such as carrollite ), pentlandite ), linnaeite (Co3S4), and siegenite ); arsenide minerals, such as skutterudite and safflorite ); and sulfarsenide minerals, including cobaltite (CoAsS) and glaucodot Cobaltiferous pyrite and and respectively— are mined in some deposits. Among secondary cobalt-rich phases, which form during surficial weathering, one of the most important historically was erythrite 8H2O), which is a bright pink mineral also known as "cobalt bloom." In modern mining of secondary cobalt-rich deposits, the principal economic phases, in addition to erythrite, are heterogenite and asbolane nH2O), plus local heazlewoodite together with cobaltiferous oxyhydroxides, including goethite limonite and lithiophorite With respect to the cobaltiferous oxyhydroxides, it is unclear from studies to date whether the contained cobalt is present in the crystal structure or adsorbed onto surfaces. Principal Deposit Types Cobalt deposits of economic or potential economic importance are diverse in terms of their geologic setting, age, morphology, mineralogy, geochemistry, origin, and gradetonnage relations (for example, Crockett and others, 1987; Smith, 2001; British Geological Survey, 2009). The principal deposit types that account for most of the world's cobalt mine production are stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, Ni-Co laterite deposits, and magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits. These deposit types, together with selected examples, are described below. Stratiform Sediment-Hosted Cu-Co Deposits Most of the world's cobalt is produced as a byproduct of copper mining in sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits that form strata-bound and commonly stratiform zones within siliciclastic or carbonate strata (Hitzman and others, 2005). Important ore hosts in some deposits are giant breccias that originated by the dissolution of former salt beds. Globally, the deposits contain chalcopyrite, pyrite, and carrollite, plus minor amounts of bornite and chalcocite, in gangue material composed mainly of potassium feldspar, muscovite, biotite, albite, quartz, and carbonate. The ages of the mineralization are principally Neoproterozoic and Permian, but some impor tant deposits are Mesoproterozoic. Although current genetic models differ in some respects, the consensus opinion is that metalliferous saline hydrothermal fluids were introduced at low to moderate temperatures during diagenesis and the early stages of deformation and metamorphism (see Zientek and others, 2013). The greatest amount of contained cobalt in this deposit type occurs in the Central African Copperbelt in Congo (Kinshasa) and Zambia (Selley and others, 2005; Taylor and others, 2013). Large deposits in this region from which byproduct cobalt is currently or has been produced include Kamoto, KOV, and Tenke Fungurume, all in Congo (Kinshasa) (El Desouky and others, 2010; Fay and Barton, 2012), and Nkana in Zambia (Brems and others, 2009). Ni-Co Laterite Deposits Laterites are red regoliths that develop in humid tropical climates during the weathering of diverse types of bedrock. Those that developed on ultramafic bedrock may contain important Ni-Co deposits (Freyssinet and others, 2005; Butt and Cluzel, 2013). Ni-Co laterites locally contain abundant scandium and, rarely, elevated concentrations of PGEs. Ni-Co laterite deposits consist of the following layers, from top to bottom: overburden, limonite, saprolite, and weathered ultramafic source rocks. Ore zones of laterite deposits range in thickness from about 10 meters (m) to as much as 40 m in some cases, and generally contain more than 1 percent nickel and less than 0.15 percent cobalt. Limonite developed over
Geology F5 ultramafic rocks tends to have higher cobalt grades, whereas saprolite has higher nickel grades. Metal accumulation involves supergene processes and several key variables, including primary bedrock lithology, climate history, topography, and structural preparation (that is, the fracture or joint density of bedrock). Ages of the deposits typically are mid-Tertiary to Holocene; some fossil Ni-Co laterites are known. Major ore constituents include the following: (a) nickeliferous serpentine (garnierite), talc, and chlorite; (b) nickel- or cobalt-bearing clays (for example, nontronite, and montmorillonite); (c) erythrite, heterogenite, asbolane, heazlewoodite, and millerite; and (d) goethite, limonite, and lithiophorite. The gangue (non-ore) material may include various amounts of quartz, amorphous silica, clays, and serpentine. The Kalgoorlie and the Murrin Murrin deposits in Western Australia (Elias and others, 1981; Gaudin and others, 2005) and the Goro deposit in New Caledonia (Wells and others, 2009) are examples of some of the world's many large Ni-Co laterite deposits. The manganiferous Nkamouna Co-Ni deposit in Cameroon is one of the few laterites known for which cobalt would be the principal economic metal to be mined (Lambiv Dzemua and Gleeson, 2012). Magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) Sulfide Deposits Large resources (including reserves) of cobalt are contained in Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits hosted in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks (Naldrett, 2004; Eckstrand and Hulbert, 2007). This deposit type comprises semimassive to massive sulfides that occur within or near the basal zones of layered intrusive complexes, in discordant magmatic conduits, and within ultramafic intrusions and lava flows. The ages of the deposits, which approximate those of the host intrusions, range from Archean to Tertiary. Nickel is the principal metal commodity, and it is accompanied by subequal proportions of copper in most deposits; cobalt and PGEs are mining byproducts. Cobalt resides mainly in cobaltiferous pentlandite and, to a lesser extent, in linnaeite. The gangue minerals consist mostly of primary magmatic minerals, such as olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase. Mineralizing processes involve magmatic segregation of sulfides and, in some deposits, hydrothermal mobilization into post-magmatic structures. Deposits of this type that currently feature significant byproduct production of cobalt include Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (Naldrett and Li, 2007); the Sudbury district in Ontario, Canada (Ames and Farrow, 2007); and the Norilsk-Talnakh district in Siberia, Russia (Naldrett and others, 1996). Other Deposit Types Types of deposits that on a global scale have produced relatively minor amounts of cobalt include the following: (a) black-shale-hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co, (b) Fe-Cu-Co skarn and replacement, (c) iron oxide-Cu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni), (d) metasedimentary-rock-hosted Co-Cu-Au, (e) Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb(-Co-Ni), (f) polymetallic (Ag-Ni-CoAs-Bi) and other cobalt-rich veins, and (g) volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) massive sulfides. Identified cobalt deposits on the sea floor, which may be mined in the future, include Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) nodules, Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-REE) crusts, and volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) massive sulfides. Black-Shale-Hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co Deposits Black shales are well known for containing elevated contents of many metals of economic interest, including Cu, Mo, Ni, Zn, Co, Cd, Ag, Au, Se, Cr, V, U, and PGEs (for example, Desborough and Poole, 1983; Coveney, 2003). Metals concentrated in black shales may reside in pyrite; organic matter; aluminosilicate minerals, such as illite; and locally in sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Some deposits contain very high contents of molybdenum, nickel, zinc, and (or) vanadium within primary sedimentary beds or laminae. In other deposits, high contents of cobalt formed by hydrothermal leaching, mobilization, and concentration into sulfide minerals during deformation and regional metamorphism. One of the few black-shale-hosted deposits from which byproduct cobalt is recovered is the giant Talvivaara orebody in central Finland, which is being mined for nickel, zinc, and copper (Loukola-Ruskeeniemi and Lahtinen, 2013). Fe-Cu-Co Skarn and Replacement Deposits Pluton-related skarn and replacement deposits form by the introduction of hydrothermal fluids into chemically reactive rocks, mainly carbonate (limestone and dolostone), and by metasomatic processes that introduce metals and other components into the precursor strata. These deposits occur proximal or distal to intrusive bodies and contain a diverse suite of metals (Megaw, 1998; Meinert and others, 2005). Sulfide minerals may include pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena, together with abundant magnetite in some deposits. Cobaltiferous deposits generally contain mainly copper residing in chalcopyrite; cobalt occurs in cobaltite or cobalt-rich pyrite. In replacement deposits, which commonly are located distal from pluton contacts, gangue minerals typically include quartz or carbonate. The gangue minerals of skarn deposits, which occur near plutons, are generally different and include garnet, pyroxene, amphibole, epidote, olivine, plagioclase, and (or) scapolite. The Cornwall and the Morgantown (Grace Mine) Fe-Cu-Co deposits, which are two of only a few large cobaltiferous skarn deposits in the world, are located in southeastern Pennsylvania (Lapham, 1968) but are no longer operating. Another large deposit of this type, although it lacks significant amounts of iron, is Ruby Creek in northwestern Alaska (Bernstein and Cox, 1986). The Mount Elliott Cu-Au(-Co-Ni) skarn deposit in Queensland, Australia, differs in that it contains a significant amount of gold (Wang and Williams, 2001).
F6 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Table F2. Cobalt concentrations in rocks, soils, waters, and air.—Continued [DOE, U.S. Department of Energy; EPA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; cm, centimeter; ppm, part per million; µg/g, microgram per gram; µg/L, microgram per liter; µm, micrometer; ng/m3, nanogram per cubic meter] Environment and (or) location Cobalt concentration Unit Notes
Rocks Upper continental crust ppm Average Taylor and McLennan (1995) Bulk continental crust ppm Average Taylor and McLennan (1995) Lower continental crust ppm Average Taylor and McLennan (1995) Basalt ppm average Krauskopf and Bird (1995) Dunite (alpine-type) ppm Average Gülaҫar and Delaloye (1976) Granite ppm Average Krauskopf and Bird (1995) Pyroxenite (alpine-type) ppm Average Gülaҫar and Delaloye (1976) Serpentinite (alpine-type) ppm Average Gülaҫar and Delaloye (1976) Shale ppm Average Krauskopf and Bird (1995) Soils United States 5 to 30 ppm Regional background soil in Idaho Shacklette and Boerngen (1984) United States 29 to 940 ppm Near mining in the Idaho copper belt Giles and others (2009) Conterminous United States 0.5 to 160 ppm 0 to 5 cm depth; median is 7.2 ppm Smith and others (2005) Conterminous United States 1.8 to 14 ppm O horizon, if present; median is 3 ppm Smith and others (2005) Conterminous United States 0.9 to 143 ppm A horizon; median is 7.1 ppm Smith and others (2005) Conterminous United States 0.7 to 191 ppm C horizon; median is 7.8 ppm Smith and others (2005) Western United States ppm Mean for 20 cm depth Shacklette and Boerngen (1984) Eastern United States ppm Mean for 20 cm depth Shacklette and Boerngen (1984) Canada 2 to 6 ppm 0 to 5 cm; distant from Sudbury mining district Narendrula and others (2012) Canada 22 to 37 ppm 0 to 5 cm; near Sudbury mining district Narendrula and others (2012) Canada 5 to 18 ppm 0 to 5 cm; distant from roast beds Hutchinson and Symington (1997) Canada 58 to 299 ppm 0 to 5 cm; near roast beds Hutchinson and Symington (1997) Congo (Kinshasa) 17 to 33 ppm 0 to 5 cm; distant from African copper belt mines Narendrula and others (2012) Congo (Kinshasa) 204 to 6,150 ppm 0 to 5 cm; near African copper belt mines Narendrula and others (2012) Egypt 13 to 25 ppm 0 to 20 cm; distant from industry Zohny (2002) Egypt 26 to 65 ppm 0 to 20 cm; pollution from industry Zohny (2002) Sweden 0.5 to 2.3 ppm Range of profile developed on quartzite and gniess Tyler (2004) Proposed DOE benchmark ppm Contaminant screening bench mark for terrestrial plants Efroymson and others (1997) Soil-quality guideline ppm Canadian agricultural soil guideline Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (2013)
Geology F7 Table F2. Cobalt concentrations in rocks, soils, waters, and air.—Continued [DOE, U.S. Department of Energy; EPA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; cm, centimeter; ppm, part per million; µg/g, microgram per gram; µg/L, microgram per liter; µm, micrometer; ng/m3, nanogram per cubic meter] Environment and (or) location Cobalt concentration Unit Notes
Waters Seawater, South Atlantic and Southern Oceans Seawater, Sargasso Sea African rivers European rivers North American rivers South American rivers Huanghe River, China Streamwater, Canada— Cobalt Streamwater, Sweden (northern) Streamwater, Sweden (southern) Streamwater, United States— Cobalt Streamwater, United States— Cobalt Sediment, world rivers Tailings pore water, Khovu-Aksy, Russia Proposed EPA benchmark Proposed EPA benchmark 0.0003 to 0.004 0.001 to 0.004 0.04 to 0.43 0.08 to 0.26 0.02 to 0.15 0.02 to 0.18 0.006 to 0.03 3 to 20 0.67 to 30 10 to 1,100 70 to 61,000 1,500 µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/g µg/L µg/L µg/L Dissolved (<0.22 µm) Dissolved and colloidal (<0.4 µm) Dissolved load (<0.2 µm) Dissolved load (<0.2 µm) Dissolved load (<0.2 µm) Dissolved load (<0.2 µm) Dissolved load (<0.2 µm) Dissolved load (<0.45 µm); mine drainage Median Median Samples distant from mines Samples near mines Average suspended sediment Median is 540 µg/L Tier II secondary acute value Tier II secondary chronic value Bown and others (2012) Shelley and others (2012) Gaillardet and others (2003) Gaillardet and others (2003) Gaillardet and others (2003) Gaillardet and others (2003) Gaillardet and others (2003) Kwong and others (2007) Huser and others (2011) Huser and others (2011) Eppinger and others (2003) Eppinger and others (2003) Viers and others (2009) Bortnikova and others (2012) Suter and Tsao (1996) Suter and Tsao (1996) Air Worldwide South Pole Greenland 0.13 to 37 0.1 to 1.2 70 to 150 ng/m3 ng/m3 ng/m3 "Polluted air"; median is 3 ng/m3 None None Reimann and de Caritat (1998) Kabata-Pendias and Pendias (2001) Kabata-Pendias and Pendias (2001)
F8 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Iron Oxide-Cu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni) Deposits The iron oxide-Cu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni) class of mineral deposits is globally important as a major source of copper, gold, and in some cases, silver, uranium, and rareearth elements (REEs) (Williams and others, 2005). These iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits are mainly of Late Archean, Proterozoic, and Mesozoic ages, and they occur either near plutons or in metamorphic terranes without a clear link to intrusive bodies. Their ore mineralogy is dominated by magnetite, hematite, chalcopyrite, bornite, and gold, with concentrations in some deposits of uraninite, bastnäsite (or bastnaesite), monazite, cobaltite, glaucodot, bismuthinite, native bismuth, arsenopyrite, millerite, molybdenite, and galena; common gangue minerals are fluorite, barite, and quartz; and tourmaline is present locally. This deposit type is thought to have originated from one of the following fluid types and sources: magmatic-hydrothermal, metamorphic, and evaporitic brine. Very large IOCG deposits that contain appreciable amounts of cobalt include, in Australia, the Olympic Dam deposit in South Australia (Reynolds, 2000) and the Ernest Henry deposit in Queensland (Mark and others, 2000), and in Brazil, the Sossego deposit (Monteiro and others, 2008). Metasedimentary-Rock-Hosted Co-Cu-Au Deposits Co-Cu-Au deposits hosted in metasedimentary rocks are strata-bound zones of semimassive to locally massive sulfides within deformed and metamorphosed siliciclastic strata chiefly of Proterozoic age (Slack, 2013). The mineralized zones range from strata-bound and discordant to stratiform and include lenses, veins, and breccias. The deposits consist of cobaltite and (or) other cobalt-rich sulfarsenide or sulfide minerals, or cobaltiferous pyrite, together with chalcopyrite and magnetite, in a gangue of quartz, muscovite, biotite, chlorite, potassium feldspar, albite, and (or) scapolite, accompanied in many deposits by minor amounts of tourmaline. The origins of these deposits are thought to be varied; a range of mineralizing processes, from diagenetic to epigenetic (the latter occurring both before and during metamorphism) are thought to be involved. In some deposits, geochronological and geochemical evidence suggests links to granitic and (or) gabbroic plutons, but the origin of most deposits of this type—and sources of the hydrothermal fluids and metals—are enigmatic. The largest tonnages of cobalt in this deposit type are contained in the Blackbird district of east-central Idaho (Slack, 2013, and references therein), the Kuusamo belt of north eastern Finland (Vanhanen, 2001), and the NICO deposit in the Northwest Territories in Canada (Goad and others, 2000). Cobalt deposits of this type in the Modum district in Norway, especially those at the Skuterud Mine (Grorud, 1997), were historically important as the major European source of blue pigment used during the 17th and 18th centuries. Mississippi Valley-Type Zn-Pb(-Co-Ni) Sulfide Deposits Strata-bound Zn-Pb(-Co-Ni) sulfide concentrations hosted by carbonate strata are termed Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits (Leach and others, 2005; Paradis and others, 2007). These deposits typically consist of various proportions of sphalerite and galena in a gangue of fluorite or barite; quartz is uncommon. The principal cobalt mineral is carrollite. Most deposits of this type are Phanerozoic, although a few Proterozoic examples are known. Mineralization characteristi cally involves the migration of low-temperature, highly saline brines and the subsequent precipitation of ore and gangue minerals as open-space fillings of paleokarst structures or as replacement zones in carbonate rocks. MVT deposits generally lack high cobalt contents, but a few, such as the Mine La Motte-Fredericktown and the Higdon deposits in Missouri (Seeger, 2008; Parra and others, 2009) have produced minor amounts of cobalt as a byproduct of the mining of lead and zinc. Polymetallic (Ag-Ni-Co-As-Bi) and Other Cobalt-Rich Vein Deposits Cobalt-rich vein deposits fill fractures and faults within metasedimentary or metaigneous rocks of Proterozoic or younger age (Kissin, 1992). The majority of these deposits were mined for silver and cobalt; some also produced byproduct copper, lead, zinc, gold, uranium, and (or) barite. In these types of deposits, multistage mineralization is common, typified by a diverse ore mineralogy consisting of native silver and native bismuth, gold, argentite, rammelsbergite, safflorite, skutterudite, gersdorffite, niccolite, uraninite, arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena, bornite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, and Sb-As-Ag sulfosalts. Gangue minerals may include quartz, carbonate, fluorite, and (or) barite. The origins of these deposits vary widely and include mineralization by magmatically derived hydrothermal fluids, metamorphic fluids, basinal brines, and meteoric waters. Economically, the most important vein deposits have been those in the Erzgebirge region of the Czech Republic and Germany (Hermann, 2005), the Kongsberg district of southern Norway (Neumann, 1944), the Cobalt district of Ontario, Canada (Marshall and Watkinson, 2000), and the Bou Azzer district of Morocco (Bouabdellah and others, 2016). Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) Massive Sulfide Deposits Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits occur in marine volcanic and volcanosedimentary belts of Archean to Holocene age and are mined principally for copper, zinc, lead, silver, and gold (Galley and others, 2007; Shanks and
Geology F9 Thurston, 2012). These deposits precipitate from hydro thermal fluids on the sea floor within irregular chimneys and mounds, and in the subsurface within strata-bound or discor dant zones. The major sulfide minerals are pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite; some deposits have appreciable amounts of galena, tetrahedrite, and gold. Gangue minerals may include quartz, muscovite, chlorite, siderite, and barite. Most VMS deposits lack elevated contents 0.1 weight percent) of cobalt but several have higher grades, especially deposits hosted predominantly by ultramafic or mafic volcanic rocks. Extensive research on this deposit type has allowed the development of refined genetic models that involve subsea-floor emplacement of igneous magma that drives hydrothermal convection and seawater entrainment, coupled with upflow of metalliferous hydrothermal fluids and subse quent sulfide precipitation (see Shanks and Thurston, 2012, and references therein). Among ancient deposits, the few that have significant amounts of contained cobalt include Outukumpu in central Finland (Peltonen and others, 2008), Windy Craggy in northwestern British Columbia, Canada (Peter and Scott, 1999), and Deerni in Qinghai Province, China (Hou and others, 1999). Sea-Floor Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) Nodules Ferromanganese nodules on the modern sea floor contain large resources of several metals, including nickel, copper, cobalt, and molybdenum (Hein and others, 2013). These nodules occur mainly on abyssal plains at depths of 3,500 to 6,500 m, having formed by the precipitation of iron and manganese oxyhydroxide phases from seawater and pore fluids within enclosing sediments. The growth rates of nodules vary greatly, from a few millimeters per million years, where components are precipitated only from seawater, to as much as 250 millimeters per million years, where precipitation is dominantly from pore fluids. Nodule diameters typically are 2 to 8 centimeters (cm). Major constituents are delta-manganese dioxide (δ-MnO2 ), todorokite, and other similar manganates, with lesser amounts of birnessite, iron oxyhydroxides, and detrital aluminosilicate minerals. Metals of economic interest, such as cobalt, are sorbed onto surfaces of the manganese oxyhydroxides, where they are retained by surface oxidation processes. The formational ages of the nodules generally are no older than the Holocene owing to dissolution of manganese oxides within anoxic pore fluids during diagenesis, but ancient nodules of Miocene and Cretaceous age also are known. The best-documented and largest nodule fields are located in the Pacific Ocean between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones, in the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in the Penrhyn-Samoa Basin, the Peru Basin, and in the Pioneer area of the central Indian Ocean (Hein and others, 2013). Sea-Floor Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-REE) Crusts Ferromanganese crusts on the modern sea floor also represent immense resources of cobalt, molybdenum, REEs, and other metals (Glasby and others, 2010; Hein and others, 2013). These crusts occur on seamounts, plateaus, and spreading ridges at relatively shallow depths of 800 to 3,000 m. Growth rates of the crusts are extremely slow, generally in the range of 1 to 6 millimeters per million years owing to precipitation of components only from seawater. The thickness of the crust varies from less than 1 cm to as much as 26 cm, and the thickest parts occur on the oldest seamounts. The principal minerals are δ-MnO2, iron oxyhydroxides, and carbonate fluorapatite, together with local goethite and minor amounts of detrital minerals, such as quartz and feldspar. The incorporation of cobalt and other metals occurs by processes similar to those that take place in ferromanganese nodules. The greatest resources in ferromanganese crusts are located in the Pacific prime crust zone of the central equatorial Pacific Ocean (Hein, 2002). Other regions contain appreciable resources, however, such as in the Nameless, Unicorn, and Maderia-Tore Rise (MTR) zones of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Muiños and others, 2013), and the Afanasiy-Nikitin seamount in the Indian Ocean (Parthiban and Banakar, 1999). Sea-Floor Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) Massive Sulfide Deposits More than 100 VMS deposits have been discovered on the modern sea floor (Hannington and others, 2005). Cobaltiferous examples are few and limited to occurrences in ultramafic rocks. These relatively cobalt-rich VMS deposits are present in serpentinite, which is a rare lithology on the modern sea floor, having been exposed by detachment faulting and core complex formation that raise deeper rocks of the lower oceanic crust and upper mantle to the ocean floor. The major sulfide minerals present in ancient VMS deposits hosted in basalt are chalcopyrite, isocubanite, pyrite (locally cobaltiferous), sphalerite, and wurtzite; the gangue minerals consist of abundant serpentine and smectite, in addition to chlorite. The Rainbow vent field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Bogdanov and others, 2002) has VMS deposits that contain the greatest amount of cobalt known among modern sea-floor VMS deposits. Other deposits of this type that are found on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge occur in the Logatchev (Mozgova and others, 1999) and the Nibelungen fields (Melchert and others, 2008).
F10 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Resources and Production Production and Identified Resources Figure F5 shows cobalt production in 2011, by deposit type. Cobalt production from Congo (Kinshasa) and most of the output from Zambia was as a byproduct of the copper mining of stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits. Cobalt mine production from most other countries was as a byproduct of nickel mining. Production from Cuba and New Caledonia was from Ni-Co laterite deposits. Production from Canada and Russia and most of the production from China was from magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits. Production from Australia and Brazil was from Ni-Co laterite and magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits. Only in Morocco was cobalt produced as the principal commodity from a current mining operation; the deposits in Morocco are hydrothermal polymetallic veins. The proportion of cobalt produced from different deposit types has varied over time. During the 1990s, production from stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits was relatively low owing to a period of civil unrest in Congo (Kinshasa) and a major collapse at the Kamoto Mine in Congo (Kinshasa) in 1990. The percentage of production from Ni-Co laterite deposits has increased since the mid-1990s owing to develop ment of second-generation hydrometallurgical processes for refining those ores and investment by a Canadian company in one of the laterite operations in Cuba. Grade-Tonnage Characteristics The grade-tonnage plot in figure F6, which combines all types of cobalt-bearing mineral deposits and districts, shows a large range in the amounts of contained cobalt. In the figure, several to many deposits are grouped into districts for some areas (such as Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and Norilsk-Talnakh, Russia) because, in these cases, grade and tonnage data for the individual deposits were not available. The sizes of the plotted deposits and districts, which include past production, reserves, and other resources (where known) are given in table F1. The summation of reserves and other resources has the potential to introduce double-counting when data are from reports in which reserves are included as part of resources. In table F1, where possible, reserves were not included when the potential for such double-counting was identified. Past production is included to give an indication of the original size of the deposit before mining. For many deposits—especially stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co, Ni-Co laterites, and magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfides—cumulative past production is small compared with the amount of cobalt contained in reserves and other resources. Figure F7 shows the global distribution of the largest cobalt deposits on land and on the sea floor; the terrestrial deposits shown in the figure also include selected small deposits that represent minor deposit types. The total terrestrial cobalt resource (plus past production, where available) calculated from data in table F1 (back of chapter) is 25.5 million metric tons, which is very similar to the terrestrial cobalt resource of 26.1 million metric tons presented in a recent independent study by Mudd and others (2013). Among terrestrial deposits, contained cobalt can vary by three orders of magnitude or more (fig. F6). Most types of cobalt deposits contain between 5,000 and 500,000 metric tons of cobalt. The largest tonnages (greater than 500,000 metric tons of contained Co) are present in numerous magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits (some grouped into districts, such as Sudbury), several stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, and numerous lateritic Ni-Co deposits. Similarly, cobalt grades differ greatly—mostly low grades (0.01 to 0.2 percent cobalt) for magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits, intermediate grades (0.03 to 0.2 percent cobalt) for the majority of lateritic Ni-Co deposits, and relatively high grades (0.03 to 1.0 percent cobalt) for most stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits. The highest average grades (about 1.5 percent cobalt) are in relatively small cobalt-rich vein deposits of the Bou Azzer district in Morocco. As shown in figures F6 through F8, the largest amount of cobalt on land is contained within stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits (41 percent) and lateritic Ni-Co deposits (36 percent), followed at much lower proportions by that in magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits (15 percent) and other terrestrial deposits (8 percent), of which the greatest portion is in VMS deposits (2.7 percent). Figure F5 - Pie Char t Showing World Cobalt Mi ne Pr odu ction By Percentages Figure F5. Pie chart showing percentage of world cobalt mine production in 2011, by deposit type. Other terrestrial deposits are grouped together and include black-shale-hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co deposits, polymetallic (Ag-Ni-Co-As-Bi) and other cobalt-rich veins, and volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) massive sulfide deposits. No recoverable cobalt was known to be produced in 2011 from deposit types not listed. The sources of production are cobalt, copper, nickel, platinumgroup-element (PGE), and zinc operations. Ag, silver; As, arsenic; Au, gold; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Zn, zinc
Resources and Production F11 Figure F 6 - Plot Showing 214 Cob alt Depo sits Wor ldwid e Figure F6. Grade-tonnage plot for 214 cobalt deposits worldwide. Grades and tonnages include production plus reserves plus other resources where known; reserve and resource data are from publicly available reports and company Web sites (see table F1), but in some cases are not defined by a National Instrument 43-101 standard, Joint Ore Reserves Committee code, or similar mineral-resource classification scheme. Labeled deposits represent most of those containing more than 500,000 metric tons (t) of cobalt, many of the U.S. deposits, some examples of the less common deposit types, and some that are discussed in the text. Small deposits—those with less than 1,000 metric tons of cobalt—are not shown. Diagonal lines are isolines of contained cobalt, in metric tons. Abbreviations: BA, Bou Azzer (Morocco); BB, Blackbird (Idaho); CC, Clarion-Clipperton zone (Pacific Ocean); CI, Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (Pacific Ocean); DM, Dumont (Canada); JC, Jacaré (Brazil); KF, Kisanfu (Congo [Kinshasa]); KM, Kamoto- KOV-Musonoi-Mupine deposits (Congo [Kinshasa]); KN, Kalgoorlie Nickel (Australia); MS, Mesaba (Minnesota); MTR, Maderia-Tore Rise (Atlantic Ocean); MU, Mutanda (Congo [Kinshasa]); NM, Nkamouna (Cameroon); NO, Northmet (Minnesota); NT, Noril'sk Talnakh (Russia); OD, Olympic Dam (Australia); PC, Pacific prime crust zone (Pacific Ocean); SB, Sudbury (Canada); SC, Sheep Creek (Montana); TF, Tenke Fungurume (Congo [Kinshasa]); TM, Twin Metals (Minnesota); TV, Talvivaara (Finland); WC, Windy Craggy (Canada)
F12 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Figu re F Wo rl d M ap Show ing Glo bal Di str but ion o f M ajo r C olb alt etric tons of cobalt) and selected
Additional data on these and el; SSH, orld map showing global distribution of major cobalt-bearing mineral deposits (those containing equal to or more than 500,000 m represent minor types. The sizes of the symbols for terrestrial (land-based) deposits reflect the amounts of contained cobalt. ore Rise, which is located west of other the deposits are given in table F1. Note that the Nameless and Unicorn sea-floor deposits (table F1) are within the area of the Maderia-T Au, gold; BSH, black-shale-hosted; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; MSRH, metasedimentary-rock-hosted; Mt, million metric tons; Ni, nick .)3 2 ,sr e hto d n a t s a o h ñ t
u st M W is
o e p e
Figure F7. e s( d r a e g u a tr m o s P stratiform sediment-hosted; Zn, zinc
Resources and Production F13 Figure F8 - Pie Charts Sh owing Proportions of Cobalt Figure F8. Pie charts showing proportions of cobalt contained in mineral deposits worldwide (cumulative past production plus reserves plus other resources), by deposit type, for A, terrestrial deposits, and B, terrestrial and sea-floor deposits. Mine production in 2011 from terrestrial deposit types is shown in figure F5. Globally, the amount of cobalt contained in reserves plus other resources in identified mineral deposits is significantly more than the amount of cobalt contained in past production. Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; PGE, platinum-group element; REE, rare-earth element The United States has 0.64 million metric tons of cobalt contained in several deposit types (table F1). The vast majority occurs within magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits of the Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota (which include the Nokomis deposit [291,000 metric tons], the Northmet deposit [92,400 metric tons], and the Mesaba deposit [89,000 metric tons]), and in metasedimentary-rock-hosted Co-Cu-Au deposits of the Blackbird district in east-central Idaho (123,000 metric tons). Much smaller amounts of cobalt are present within the Sheep Creek (Black Butte) stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co-Ag deposit in western Montana (17,700 metric tons) and the Eagle magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) deposit in northern Michigan (4,000 metric tons). Resources also may be present in the Ni-Co laterites of southern Oregon and northern California (Foose, 1991, 1992). Compared with the estimated global terrestrial resources (plus past production, where available) of 25.5 million metric tons of cobalt, the United States has only 2.5 percent of the total amount of cobalt contained in mined ore (past production) plus reserves plus other resources. On a global scale, the largest resources of cobalt occur in modern sea-floor ferromanganese nodules and crusts. Identified resources for eight different areas, each containing 0.2 to 50 million metric tons of cobalt, have been reported. Crusts tend to have slightly higher cobalt grades but a similar range in deposit sizes. Significantly, the amount of cobalt in the Pacific prime crust zone in the Pacific Ocean (fig. F6) is three to four times the cobalt reserves contained in all known terrestrial deposits (Hein and others, 2013). Production of cobalt during the next several decades will likely be dominated by the mining of Ni-Co laterites and strati form sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, with lesser contributions from magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits. The giant cobalt resources present in modern sea-floor ferromanganese nodules and crusts (table F1; fig. F6) will probably be mined in the future, but given the technological challenges, environmental issues, and uncertain economics involved in such deep-sea mining ventures, it is unclear when these sea-floor mineral resources might be exploited profitably for cobalt production. Mining Methods The mining of cobalt deposits is done by conventional underground and open pit methods. Underground mining is used for most magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide, iron oxideCu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni), volcanogenic Cu-(Co-Zn-Ag-Au) massive sulfide, and metasedimentary-rock-hosted Co-Cu-Au deposits. In contrast, open pit mining is the predominant method used for stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co and Ni-Co laterite deposits. Ore from the black-shale-hosted Talvivaara Ni-Cu-Zn-Co deposit in Finland—the only one of its type presently being mined—is extracted from large open pits.
F14 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Typical Mine Life The mine life for cobalt-bearing deposits depends on a variety of parameters, but it is ultimately limited by the size of the resource and the development of reserves, which is the economically extractable portion of the demonstrated resource. Mines that produce cobalt generally are worked for decades. For example, several stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits in the Central African Copperbelt have been mined for more than 50 years, such as Chibuluma, which began production in 1955 and is still being mined (Metorex Pty Ltd., 2013). In some other countries, mining started earlier and continues to the present day; for example, the magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits at the Creighton Mine in the Sudbury district of Ontario were first worked in 1901 (Python Mining Consultants, 2013); mining of the cobalt-rich veins in the Bou Azzer district of Morocco began in 1928 (Ahmed and others, 2009), and mining of the magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits of the Norilsk-Talnakh district in Russia began in 1936 (Naldrett, 2004). Possibly the longest period of production has come from the Thio Ni-Co laterite mine in New Caledonia, which was first mined in 1880 and is still being mined (Eramet Group, 2013). Ore-Processing Methods Cobalt-bearing ores are processed by a wide variety of extractive metallurgical techniques, depending on the type of ore, the availability of energy, environmental concerns, market demand for primary products and byproducts, and overall project economics. Ni-Co laterite ores generally require minimal beneficiation before being refined. Ores from magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide and stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits are processed by standard rock crushing and grinding techniques, typically followed by froth flotation to produce mineral concentrates, which are then refined to recover the metals (De Cuyper, 1988). The ores or concentrates can be processed in one of the following ways: (a) leaching, (b) roasting and then leaching, or (c) smelting and then leaching. The resulting solutions are purified and refined to separate out the individual metals. The purification and refining are generally carried out by one or more hydrometallurgical and (or) electrometallurgical methods, including chemical precipitation, electrowinning, hydrogen reduction, ion exchange, and solvent extraction. Leaching of cobalt-bearing ores can be done at various temperatures and pressures using acids or other solutions, such as ammonia, ammonia-ammonium carbonate, chloride, or chlorine (Kerfoot and Weir, 1988). For more detailed information on the processing of cobalt ores, see, for example, Crundwell and others (2011). In a few cases, leaching is accelerated by the introduction of bacteria. For example, ore from the black-shale-hosted Talvivaara deposit in Finland is processed by bio-heapleaching (Saari and Riekkola-Vanhanen, 2012). Bacterial leaching was also used at Kasese, Uganda, to recover cobalt from stockpiled pyrite concentrates that were generated during earlier copper mining. Undiscovered Resources Because stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co, Ni-Co laterite, and magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits are the sources of the greatest amount of cobalt production and contain the largest reserves of cobalt, most undiscovered resources of cobalt are likely to occur in these same deposit types. Descriptive and genetic models for such deposits are relatively well developed; hence, the exploration for new orebodies probably will target geologic terranes that host known deposits. In the case of stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, prospective geologic settings have been thoroughly documented (for example, Hitzman and others, 2005; Taylor and others, 2013), yet potentially favorable terranes exist in many remote parts of the world where modern deposit models have not been applied. A similar situation exists for Ni-Co laterite deposits in that, despite a robust understanding of key ore-forming processes (for example, Freyssinet and others, 2005; Butt and Cluzel, 2013), areas that may contain deeply weathered ultramafic rocks have not been well explored. For magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits, the most important undiscovered resources are likely to be present in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks, including large intrusive complexes (Naldrett, 2004; Eckstrand and Hulbert, 2007). The global distribution of such complexes is well known for those exposed at the surface, but in some remote parts of the world, buried mafic intrusive complexes still await discovery. Unconventional Resources Metamorphosed Black Shales The black-shale-hosted Talvivaara Ni-Cu-Zn-Co deposit in Finland contains an average of 200 ppm cobalt (LoukolaRuskeeniemi and Lahtinen, 2013); however, the economic part of this deposit is located within remobilized structures in which lower metal contents of the surrounding Proterozoic black shale were increased during deformation and metamor phism. Epigenetic cobalt enrichment has also been described for the Permian Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag-Au-PGE deposits in Germany and Poland, where elevated cobalt contents occur preferentially within small, paragenetically late veins (Schmidt and Friedrich, 1988; Sun and Püttmann, 1997). Other black shales may have potential for containing low-grade cobalt deposits, such as the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Chattanooga Shale in the Southeastern United States that typically has 70 ppm cobalt but locally contains as much as 300 ppm (Leventhal and others, 1983).
Exploration for New Deposits F15 Modern Sea-Floor Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits Some VMS deposits on the modern sea floor contain elevated amounts of cobalt. Documented examples of high contents of cobalt in deposits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are all in settings underlain by ultramafic rocks, including in the Rainbow vent field (Bogdanov and others, 2002), in the Logatchev field (Mozgova and others, 1999), and in the Nibelungen field (Melchert and others, 2008). Samples of massive sulfide rock from the Logatchev field have as much as 1,310 ppm cobalt (Murphy and Meyer, 1998). None of these modern deposits has been explored sufficiently for resource delineation, however, because of their occurrence at relatively deep water depths of 3,000 m or more, which are considered unfavorable for the profitable mining of such deposits (Herzig and others, 2002). Despite this constraint, ultramafic-hosted modern VMS deposits may represent a resource for cobalt. Ancient Ni-Co Laterites Because Ni-Co laterite deposits of Cretaceous or younger ages are the predominant source of cobalt mined today (fig. F7; Berger and others, 2011), ancient laterites—if preserved and not eroded—could represent a nonconventional resource for nickel and cobalt. Gleeson and Herrington (2005) evaluated this potential, using the data of Bárdossy and Aleva (1990) on time periods of extensive global weathering, to suggest that fossil Ni-Co laterites preferentially formed during the Carboniferous, late Permian, Eocene-Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, if favorable settings (including tropical to subtropical climates) existed at those times (see Thorne and others, 2012). Two examples of ancient laterites are the Çaldağ Ni-Co deposit in Turkey and the Ni-Co laterites of Greece, which formed during the Late Cretaceous to Eocene and Late Jurassic to Cretaceous, respectively (Çağatay and others, 1983; Valeton and others, 1987). Even older forma tional ages are possible, although paleoclimatic conditions during the Paleozoic and Precambrian are not well known. Ancient Fe-Mn(-Cu-Co-Ni) Nodules Ancient Fe-Mn(-Cu-Co-Ni) nodules are also a possible nonconventional resource of cobalt. Fossil nodules have been described from Miocene strata in Chile (Achurra and others, 2009) and Cretaceous strata in West Timor, Indonesia (Margolis and others, 1978). In both cases, however, the metal contents in the ancient nodules are much lower than those in modern nodules on the Pacific Ocean floor; such low metal concentrations may reflect shallow formation on continental slopes above the carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Metal-rich ancient nodules are most likely to be found within strata that formed in deepwater, abyssal plain settings below the CCD. These types of strata are generally carried on top of subduction zones and hence are not preserved, except in sedimentary sequences that are obducted onto continents. Ancient Cobalt-Rich Manganese Deposits Cobalt-rich manganese deposits occur in Pliocene alkaline basalts of the Calatrava region in central Spain (Crespo and Lunar, 1997). These unusual manganiferous deposits, which contain up to 1.7 weight percent cobalt, are interpreted to have formed in a hot-spring environment within a predominantly subaerial volcanic sequence. Although the known cobalt deposits are small, the potential may exist for larger deposits elsewhere in this volcanic field and also within other subaerial alkaline basaltic provinces that display evidence of hot-spring environments. Ultramafic Igneous Rocks The highest cobalt concentrations in common rock types are in ultramafic igneous rocks, including dunite, peridotite, and pyroxenite, and in altered varieties, such as serpentinite. Dunite tends to have the greatest contents because this rock type consists mainly of olivine, which is a ferromagnesian silicate mineral that preferentially concentrates cobalt. The average cobalt contents in dunite and serpentinite are 109 and 115 ppm, respectively (Gülaҫar and Delaloye, 1976); hence, these rock types potentially could become largetonnage and low-grade cobalt resources if the extraction of cobalt from olivine and serpentine can be made commercially viable. The large amount of energy required to extract such cobalt suggests that this type of deposit has only a small chance of being developed and mined, however. Exploration for New Deposits Because of the diversity of deposit types that contain economic cobalt concentrations, exploration methods vary greatly. In the exploration for stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, prospecting may involve the integration of data from soil geochemical surveys, as well as structure, stratigraphy, geophysical, and drilling data. For lateritic Ni-Co deposits, key exploration criteria are the presence of deeply weathered ultramafic rocks, development of a thick lateritic profile, and optimum topography and rainfall required to effectively concentrate cobalt and nickel within the weath ering zone. Geochemical sampling, including of vegetation, is typically effective in locating Ni-Co laterite deposits. Many magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits occur within large mafic intrusive complexes where refined deposit models and local geologic knowledge can be used to focus exploration to geophysics and drilling. Exploration for this deposit type is centered on the basal zones of the complexes using mainly electrical and magnetic geophysical methods.
F16 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Environmental Considerations Cobalt is an essential nutrient for most life, but it can cause toxic effects when present in solids or waters at concentrations that are significantly enriched relative to normal background levels. Such elevated concentrations may result from cobalt mining, processing, manufacturing, and use. Consequently, an understanding of the behavior of cobalt in the environment can assist in developing technologies and working practices that do not lead to potentially toxic concentrations of cobalt during its production and use. The control, mitigation, and prevention of potential environmental impacts from mining and related processing facilities will vary depending on the deposit type, but they are also dependent on regulations in place within the host country, State, and local area. Therefore, no attempt is made herein to describe every type of mine and its potential for cobalt pollution. Instead, the focus is on some of the better documented environmental impacts associated with cobalt mining. Sources and Fate in the Environment In weathering environments at Earth's surface, cobalt typically occurs in the +2 and +3 oxidation states, and may dissolve from host minerals and form complexes with hydroxide, fluoride, sulfate, phosphate, chloride, and (or) organic material. The behavior of cobalt in weathering environ ments follows that of iron and manganese. Manganese oxide minerals, in particular, have a strong capacity to sorb dissolved cobalt. Much of the literature about the behavior of dissolved cobalt focuses on optimizing cobalt sorption to various natural and synthetic solids as a means of removing dissolved cobalt from solution (for example, Chen and others, 2011). The tendency for cobalt to be dissolved and transported largely depends upon the pH and temperature of weathering solutions. Because cobalt typically is concentrated in sulfide and arsenide minerals, it can be expected to be relatively mobile under some weathering conditions because of the instability of these minerals at Earth's surface. Dissolution of sulfide minerals, in particular, releases metals and forms sulfuric acid, and the low pH values thus produced allow higher concentrations of metals to be dissolved—potentially causing the environmental problem known as acid mine drainage (AMD). Metals, including cobalt, which are dissolved in AMD can be naturally attenuated through precipitation, sorption to minerals, or dilution by mixing with water at circumneutral pH; if not fixed in this manner, these metals are transported downstream and become more widely dispersed in the environment. Natural concentrations of cobalt in rocks, soils, waters, and air are given in table F2. The cobalt content in soil varies widely depending upon the type of parent rock, but soils unaffected by pollution from industry generally contain a range of 0.5 to 30 ppm cobalt (Shacklette and Boerngen, 1984; Hutchinson and Symington, 1997; Tyler, 2004; Smith and others, 2005; Narendrula and others, 2012). Cobalt concen trations in seawater are 0.0003 to 0.004 micrograms per liter (µg/L, or parts per billion) (Bown and others, 2012; Shelley and others, 2012). In streams and rivers, cobalt concentrations vary from 0.006 to 0.43 µg/L (Gaillardet and others, 2003; Huser and others, 2011). Elevated background concentrations of as high as 30 µg/L cobalt have been reported near Cobalt, Idaho (Eppinger and others, 2003). Suspended particulates in world rivers contain an average of 22.5 micrograms per gram cobalt (Viers and others, 2009). Cobalt occurs naturally in the atmosphere within mineral dust particles. In relatively clean air over the South Pole, cobalt ranges from 0.1 to 1.2 nano grams per cubic meter (ng/m3) (Kabata-Pendias and Pendias, 2001, and references therein). Concentrations of cobalt in the environment that are higher than background concentration can result from mining and ore processing (table F2). For example, soils near mines and processing facilities may contain as much as 22 to 6,150 ppm cobalt (Hutchinson and Symington, 1997; Zohny, 2002; Giles and others, 2009; Narendrula and others, 2012). Likewise, streams near the mining towns of Cobalt, Ontario, Canada, and Cobalt, Idaho, have 3 to 20 µg/L and 10 to 1,100 µg/L cobalt, respectively (Kwong and others, 2007; Gray and Eppinger, 2012). Extremely high cobalt concentrations of 70 to 61,000 µg/L (median is 540 µg/L) occur in the pore waters of mine waste impoundments at the Khovu-Aksy Mine in Russia (Bortnikova and others, 2012). Cobalt also can be emitted to the atmosphere during the metal refining process; air affected by industry may contain 0.13 to 37 ng/m3 cobalt (Reimann and de Caritat, 1998, and references therein). Mine Waste Characteristics Mine waste is generally considered to be the material that originates and accumulates at a mine site but has no current economic value (Lottermoser, 2010); it includes both solid and liquid waste. The character of the waste generated from cobalt mining varies according to the geology of the deposit and the methods used to extract the ore. Mine wastes produced by the extraction of copper and nickel ores from which cobalt is produced typically consist of waste rock, tailings, and possibly pit lakes. Tailings are the residual silt- to fine sand-sized grains generated from ore grinding and processing, and generally are stored in dams or ponds. The mining of cobalt typically produces large volumes of solid and liquid waste. Estimates for the amounts of solid waste generated from the mining of many deposits are difficult to obtain. The mining of laterite deposits requires the stripping of overburden before extraction of the exposed ore. As a result, reclamation of the mined area is often a significant issue, as soil needs to be reestablished and revegetated. Further, once the nickel and cobalt have been extracted, a volume of material nearly equal in volume to the original deposit must be secured in tailings so that it cannot be a source
Environmental Considerations F17 of contamination. Laterite deposits typically are between 20 and 200 million metric tons (table F1). In addition, laterite ores that are mined and then leached to recover nickel and cobalt can generate large amounts of metal-rich sludge that must be contained in impoundments, which are known as "dry stacks" (Power and others, 2011), or, if deemed environ mentally safe, combined with additives to revegetate mined areas (Powers and Siemens, 1983). Other open pit mines, such as those that are used to develop many strata-bound copper deposits, can be quite deep (for example, Taylor and others, 2013). A constraint on their economic viability is the stripping ratio, which determines how much waste rock must be moved. For example, the large Cu-Co mine at Tenke Fungurume (Congo [Kinshasa]) has an approximate stripping ratio of 3.3:1 (International Mining, 2012), which means that 3.3 metric tons of rock must be moved to extract 1 metric ton of ore. The result is that large volumes of rock must be moved and managed, and waste rock must be placed in holding areas and secured. Underground mines, such as those typically used to mine certain sulfide ore deposits (magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits and some stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits), generally produce less waste than open pit mines; however, the waste commonly is highly reactive because of its high content of sulfide minerals. These minerals are capable of producing significant amounts of AMD, which, if not contained, must be remediated. One example of waste generated from a past-producing sulfidebearing cobalt mine is the Blackbird Mine near Cobalt, Idaho, which was mined intermittently from 1949 to 1960, yielding 4.8 million metric tons of waste rock and 2 million metric tons of tailings, and resulting in AMD (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Solid mine waste includes overburden (the soil and rock that overlie an orebody that must be removed to access the ore in an open pit mine) and gangue (the material that surrounds or is mixed with the valuable metallic minerals in the ore deposit). The mineralogy of solid mine waste in cobalt-rich deposits tends to be similar to the mineralogy of the deposit, except that the proportion of ore minerals is lower relative to gangue minerals. Because of their association with sulfide minerals, trace elements present in many cobalt-bearing deposits and wastes typically include As, Au, Bi, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb, Se, and Zn, and locally include Ag, Ba, Fe, Hg, Mg, Ni, Sb, Sc, Sn, Ti, V, and PGEs (Evans and others, 1995; Foose and others, 1995; Lindsey and others, 1995). Common elements associated with lateritic Ni-Co deposits are Al, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Si (Watling and others, 2011; Lambiv Dzemua and others, 2013). Under oxidizing and acidic (pH 3) weathering conditions, which would be expected in mine waste having little to no acid-neutralizing capacity (such as those typically found in some stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits, nearly all magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits, and in metasedimentary-rock-hosted Co-Cu-Au deposits), many of the aforementioned accessory elements are expected to be mobile (Smith and Huyck, 1999). The acid-neutralizing capacity of some stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits is predicted to be greater owing to the pres ence of such gangue minerals as calcite and dolomite. For example, the paste pH of tailings samples from the mines in the Central African Copperbelt are as high as 6.9 at the Mindolo Mine and 8.5 at the Chambishi Mine (Sracek and others, 2010). Zinc in carbonate-hosted sulfide deposits of the Central African Copperbelt can make up a large percentage of the total dissolved metals that drain from the deposits and associated waste piles (Plumlee and others, 1999). Lateritic Ni-Co deposits generally lack acid-generating minerals, so the likely oxidizing and circumneutral (5 pH 8) weathering conditions in these and carbonate-bearing, stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits allow many of the accessory elements listed above to be less mobile or immobile (Smith and Huyck, 1999). Liquid waste includes ore-processing fluids that are stored onsite, as well as natural water that interacts with solid mine waste. Liquid mine waste can occur as surface water, groundwater, and soil pore water within and surrounding the mine site. As an example of liquid mine waste at a former cobalt mine, surface water draining from the Blackbird Mine near Cobalt, Idaho, is contaminated with As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1995). Cobalt concentrations in the waters in surrounding creeks may be nearly 70 times higher than background values (10 to 2,000 µg/L cobalt), as well as have high copper (10 to 1,800 µg/L copper), and arsenic (0.45 to 6.2 µg/L arsenic) concentrations (Mok and Wai, 1989). A survey of streams within the broader Idaho cobalt belt revealed elevated concentrations (in µg/L) of cobalt (0.67 to 1,100), copper (1 to 2,000), arsenic (less than 0.2 to 44), and iron (28 to 3,800) (Eppinger and others, 2003). Metal contamination of groundwater, surface water, soil, and stream sediments near the Blackbird Mine, as a result of runoff from waste rock, tailings, and mill debris, led to the proposed addition of the Blackbird Mine to the U.S. Superfund National Priorities List in 1993 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Acid mine drainage like that at the Blackbird Mine may be typical for historic mining districts, but, with modern controls, similar damage can generally be avoided or the harmful effects can be mitigated. Human Health Concerns The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (2004) provides a useful summary of the health effects of cobalt on humans. The general public is most likely to be exposed to cobalt through consumption of food and drinking water. Human dietary intake of cobalt typically ranges from 10 to 30 micrograms per day (Schrauzer, 2004). Occupational exposure generally results from inhalation of cobalt-bearing dust during cobalt processing and industrial activities that use cobalt, although the current use of appropriate protective equipment is thought to effectively minimize such exposure to levels that do not cause harm. At low levels, cobalt is essential
F18 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt to human health, particularly because it is the central atom in the critical nutrient vitamin B12. Overexposure to high levels of cobalt, however, may cause lung and heart dysfunction, as well as dermatitis. Isotopes of cobalt range from 50Co to 71Co. The naturally occurring isotope is 59Co. 60Co, which has a half-life of 5.27 years and is the most commercially important radioactive isotope of cobalt, is made by placing 59Co in a nuclear reactor for 1.5 to 2 years (Reimann and de Caritat, 1998). 60Co is used in commercial and medical applications. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (2004) stated that exposure to radiation from radioactive cobalt can damage cells and potentially cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma, cancer, and, in rare cases, death. Additionally, nonradioactive cobalt does not appear to cause cancer in humans or animals when ingested, but when inhaled, animals have shown cancer development. More recently, the National Toxicology Program (NTP), made up of three U.S. Government health organizations, listed nonradioactive cobalt sulfate and cobalt-tungsten carbide in the Report on Carcinogens as reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens (National Toxicology Program, 2014a, b). Beyond these listings, the NTP's recent report revealed that there is not enough unequivocal evidence connecting cancer development in humans with exposure to cobalt and cobalt compounds (National Toxicology Program, 2016). Primary and secondary drinking water regulations for cobalt currently do not exist in the United States, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (2013) has set an exposure limit of 0.1 milligram per cubic meter for cobalt-bearing dust in workplace air over an 8-hour workday. Likewise, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commis sion (2013a, b) limits radioactive cobalt in workplace air to 1x10- 6 microcuries per milliliter (µCi/mL) of 57Co and 7x10-8 µCi/mL of 60Co. Mining of cobalt-rich ore deposits can potentially mobilize elements that are known human toxins. Perhaps the best-known examples of the effects of elements that are known human toxins are the neurological impacts of lead on children (Holecy and Mousavi, 2012) and the carcinogenic effects of arsenic in drinking water (Gupta and others, 2012). Other commonly associated elements, such as nickel, copper, and zinc, also have the potential to affect human health when present above threshold concentrations in air, drinking water, and soil resources. The current U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead is 0.15 microgram per cubic meter (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2013), and the current U.S. primary and secondary drinking water standards for arsenic, lead, and copper are 0.01, 0.0, and 1.3 milligrams per liter (mg/L), respectively (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). Canadian agricultural soil quality guidelines for nickel, copper, lead, and zinc are 50, 63, 70, and 200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg, which is equivalent to ppm), respectively (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 2013). Ecological Health Concerns Many studies focus on the ecological impacts of cobalt bioaccessibility in the environment. Various organisms, including fish, amphibians, crustaceans, insects, and plants, are used in chronic (lower doses over longer time periods) and acute (higher doses over shorter time periods) tests of a substance toxicity. The aquatic toxicity of cobalt depends on multiple factors, including its chemical form (for example, free cobalt ion [Co2+], chloride [CoCl2], and cobalt (II) sulfate and ambient physicochemical factors, such as pH, temperature, and overall water chemistry. One of several useful measurements used in toxicity tests is the lethal concentration that leads to 50 percent mortality (LC50 ) after exposure to a substance for a certain amount of time. Another commonly used measure of toxicity is the effective concentration that results in 50 percent of the tested population exhibiting decreased functionality (EC50 ), such as inhibited growth. The freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca is known to be sensitive to dissolved cobalt, exhibiting a 1-week LC50 of 16 µg/L in soft water and 61 µg/L in hard water (Borgmann and others, 2005). The toxic effects of cobalt on this and other species decrease with increasing water hardness because less toxic ions like Ca2+ and Mg2+ are able to outcompete Co2+ for biological sites. Acute toxicity tests with dissolved cobalt chloride and the freshwater green alga Chlorella vulgaris resulted in an EC50 of 530 µg/L cobalt, based on inhibited growth over 96 hours (Rachlin and Grosso, 1993). Fish appear to be more resistant to dissolved cobalt. For example, acute toxicity tests with dissolved cobalt (ranging from 0 to 2,000 mg/L) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) showed no lethality and an LC50 value of 1.4 mg/L cobalt after 2 and 3 days of exposure, respectively (Marr and others, 1998). Interestingly, when this latter species was exposed to solutions containing dissolved copper only, dissolved cobalt only, or a mixture of the two metals, toxicity for time periods greater than 2 days decreased in the following order: 250 µg/L Co + Cu, 50 µg/L Co + Cu, Cu only, and Co only (Marr and others, 1998). These results indicate that exposure to the combination of dissolved cobalt and copper, which is closer to actual environmental conditions, is more toxic than exposure to either metal alone. Some regions of the United States have adopted secondary acute and chronic screening benchmarks of 1,500 µg/L cobalt and 23 µg/L cobalt, respectively, for aquatic freshwater life (Suter and Tsao, 1996). Although cobalt may be toxic to some species, it is an essential nutrient for many life forms, primarily because it is an integral component in vitamin B12 (Schrauzer, 2004). Microorganisms are responsible for the biosynthesis of natural vitamin B12. Some microorganisms secrete enzymes known as siderophores, which are known to have a high capacity for dissolving iron from relatively insoluble minerals, thereby increasing the bioavailability of iron in iron-limited environ ments. Recent work has shown that a commonly studied siderophore has a binding capacity for cobalt that is five
Problems and Future Research F19 orders of magnitude greater than that for iron (Duckworth and others, 2009). Microorganisms may use siderophores to increase cobalt solubility and bioavailability in cobalt-limited environments as a means of contending with the generally low cobalt concentrations in the environment (Bi and others, 2010). Microorganisms are responsible for synthesizing vitamin B12 in the gut of ruminants, including those that humans depend on for food, such as cows and sheep. Cobaltdeficient sheep and cattle may experience weight loss and frequent miscarriages, but such symptoms are often curtailed by adding cobalt salts to feed and cobalt additives to soil (Schrauzer, 2004). Fewer studies have focused on the toxic effects of cobalt on higher level plants. The cobalt content of food plants varies widely (from 1.1 to 380 micrograms per kilogram) and depends upon the soil conditions and the species (Kabata-Pendias and Pendias, 2001, and references therein). This dependence is illustrated by a study that tested the phytotoxicity of cobalt to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) in 10 different soils collected from around the world (Li and others, 2009). The EC50, based on decreased shoot growth and biomass, was highly variable. The most sensitive EC50 was 7 mg/kg of cobalt for oilseed rape growing in soil from Athens (Georgia), and the least sensitive EC50 was 1,708 mg/kg of cobalt for barley growing in soil from Brécy (France). The bladder campion (Silene vulgaris [Moench] Garcke) plant is native to Europe and is widespread in North America. This species has the capacity for high metal tolerance, as expressed by seedling specimens collected in Canada from mine tailings near Cobalt, Ontario, having a greater ability to withstand elevated arsenic, cobalt, and nickel concentrations in the growth medium than counterparts collected from an uncontaminated site near Baymouth, Ontario (Paliouris and Hutchinson, 1991). For healthy terrestrial plant growth, some regions of the United States have adopted a soil screening benchmark of 20 mg/kg cobalt (Efroymson and others, 1997). The Canadian agricultural soil quality guideline for cobalt is 40 mg/kg (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 2013). Mine Closure Most recent and new mining operations include closure plans that address issues related to the mine's footprint. A mine's footprint includes the waste left on site and locally affected soil and water, as well as ecological impacts, such as habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity. Long-term plans for closed mining operations where cobalt is an economic byproduct also depend upon country, state, and local regulations. Following mining in many cobalt-rich deposits, a typical long-term mine closure issue is the potential for AMD derived from the site. Acidic drainage may seep from waste piles or tailings ponds. Common methods for treating AMD include active water treatment facilities, passive limestone-lined channels, or constructed wetlands (Plumlee and Logsdon, 1999). The end result of both active and passive approaches is the eventual precipitation of dissolved metals. Precipitated metals in passive wetland systems tend to be more stable under the prevailing anoxic conditions, whereas the metal-rich precipitates that result from active treatment facilities form a sludge that can be similar to Ni-Co laterite processing wastes, and both materials can cause environmental problems if not disposed of responsibly. At large mines, mine waste is typically consolidated into pits and submerged under water, forming a tailings pond or impoundment. Acid-generating minerals are less reactive under water, but any seepage usually needs to be treated. A tailings impoundment in the Chambishi catchment in Zambia covers 1.6 hectares and is submerged during the wet season, but becomes completely dry by the middle of the dry season (von der Heyden and New, 2004). The acid-neutralizing capacity of the Chambishi tailings is sufficient to attenuate groundwater cobalt, nickel, and zinc concentrations to within local drinking water guideline levels, but evaporation in the tailings impoundment causes precipitation of metal-bearing evaporite minerals that can be mobilized as wind-blown dust during the dry season (von der Heyden and New, 2004). Like wise, dried tailings pond dust has settled in soils near the Tuva cobalt plant (Khovu-Aksy Mine site, Russia), contributing to soil arsenic concentrations as high as 540 mg/kg (Bortnikova and others, 2012). Another common long-term mine-closure issue related to the mining of cobalt-rich deposits is the generation of large volumes of waste rock and tailings piles. These waste piles have the potential to become unstable and can be a source of metal-rich dust. If the use of mine waste as backfill into mine workings is not an option, waste pile stability and dust-generating issues can often be addressed through grading and covering of the piles with vegetation. Securing waste piles and prevention and treatment of AMD typically are taken into account in the long-term costs of active and proposed metal mining projects. Problems and Future Research Several types of studies could benefit the delineation of new cobalt resources for the future and the mining and processing of known cobalt deposits. First would be better geologic models for cobalt-rich ores, which could be used in the exploration for new deposits. Second would be improved methods for increased recovery of cobalt from Ni-Co laterites based on the typically lower recovery rates for cobalt relative to nickel (Xu and others, 2005); in situ leaching of laterite deposits could also be evaluated. Third would be the develop ment of processes for the efficient and economic recovery of cobalt from silicate minerals, such as olivine in dunite and other types of ultramafic rocks. Fourth, and last, would be technological advances to help make the mining and extraction
F20 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt of cobalt from deep-sea ferromanganese nodules and crusts economically profitable. Considerable challenges exist for the profitable extraction of cobalt from sea-floor resources in ferroman ganese nodules and crusts (figs. F6 and F8). These cobalt resources lie at water depths of as great as 6,000 m, so technological, economic, and legal barriers have prevented their exploitation to date. The International Seabed Authority has developed guidelines for the environmental impact statement (EIS) that must be submitted to governing bodies by companies applying for licenses to explore and mine sea-floor mineral deposits. According to the EIS guidelines, developers must address all environmental and social issues that could result from the mining activity, as well as the relevant mitigation measures (International Seabed Authority, 2012). Discussion of all potential issues is beyond the scope of this work. Interested readers can find more information in the various technical reports published online by the International Seabed Authority (2015). Processing of sea-floor ferromanganese nodules and crusts would likely take place on land, so some of the same mine-waste issues for terrestrial cobalt resources will also apply to sea-floor resources. Additionally, perhaps one of the most controversial issues involving sea-floor mining is the potential impact on benthic, middepth, and pelagic ecosys tems. Benthic ecosystems on abyssal plains are particularly threatened by mining in the Clarion-Clipperton zone (CCZ). The understanding of abyssal, benthic ecosystems has grown rapidly in the past several decades. An international effort to evaluate the biodiversity in the CCZ revealed that "high, unanticipated, and still poorly sampled levels of species diversity for all three sediment-dwelling faunal components (foraminifera, nematodes, and polychaetes) [exist] at [the] individual study sites" (International Seabed Authority, 2008, p. 2). These findings led to the recommendation that "marine protected areas" be maintained throughout the CCZ in order to preserve abyssal biodiversity (International Seabed Authority, 2008). Another major environmental concern relates to wastewater being discharged from the ships carrying out the sea-floor mining. This waste could contain crushed nodules and trace metals, and has the potential to disrupt photosynthesis by pelagic organisms and, being colder and denser than surface water, change the natural circulation patterns in the water column (Markussen, 1994). As a result, current conceptual designs are engineered to separate nodules from waste material (for example, clay, sediments, and muddy water) and to return waste to the sea floor at water depths of nearly 5,000 m, so as not to disturb the middepth and pelagic ecosystems (for example, Agarwal and others, 2012). As sea-floor mineral exploration continues and if mining begins in the future, the scientific community likely will be documenting its impacts on ocean life. Acknowledgments We thank Michael P. Foose (U.S. Geological Survey) and Andrew G. Gunn (British Geological Survey) for thorough and constructive reviews of the manuscript, and John H. DeYoung, Jr. (U.S. Geological Survey) for editorial suggestions. Comments by David Weight and Paul Marsh (The Cobalt Development Institute), and William Stubblefield (Oregon State University) are also appreciated. 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Table F1
F34 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits Browns Australia -13.07 Compass Resources NL (2007) Emmie Bluff Australia -31.10 Hitzman and others (2005) Mount Gunson Australia -31.45 Hitzman and others (2005) Mount Isa Australia -20.57 Mount Isa Mines Ltd. (2012) Pyrite Hill-Big Hill Australia -32.12 Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd. (2013) Windabout Australia -31.30 Gunson Resources Ltd. (2013) Tangdan (Dongchuan) China Hitzman and others (2005) Deziwa Congo (Kinshasa) -10.78 Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. (2010) Dilala East Congo (Kinshasa) -10.70 Metorex Pty Ltd. (2011) DIMA Congo (Kinshasa) -10.74 Wilson and others (2013) Disele Congo (Kinshasa) -10.75 Wilson and others (2013) Écaille C Congo (Kinshasa) -10.76 Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. (2010) Etoile (Ruashi) Congo (Kinshasa) -11.63 Metorex Pty Ltd. (2011) Kababankola Congo (Kinshasa) -10.73 Wilson and others (2013) Kabolela Congo (Kinshasa) -10.69 Wilson and others (2013) Kakanda Congo (Kinshasa) -10.74 Wilson and others (2013) Kalukundi-Kii Congo (Kinshasa) -10.62 Wilson and others (2013) Kambove Congo (Kinshasa) -10.85 Wilson and others (2013) Kamfundwa Congo (Kinshasa) -10.81 Wilson and others (2013) Kamoto-KOVMusonoi-Mupine Congo (Kinshasa) -10.72 Wilson and others (2013) Kananga Congo (Kinshasa) -10.68 Wilson and others (2013) Kazibizi Congo (Kinshasa) -10.83 Wilson and others (2013) Kipapila Congo (Kinshasa) -12.02 Wilson and others (2013) Kipoi Central Congo (Kinshasa) -11.26 Wilson and others (2013) Kipoi North Congo (Kinshasa) -11.26 Wilson and others (2013) Kisanfu Congo (Kinshasa) -10.77 Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (2013) Luishia Congo (Kinshasa) -11.17 Wilson and others (2013) Luiswishi Congo (Kinshasa) -11.51 Wilson and others (2013) Lupoto Congo (Kinshasa) -11.60 Wilson and others (2013) M'Sesa Congo (Kinshasa) -10.85 Wilson and others (2013) Mukondo (includes C19 and C21) Congo (Kinshasa) -10.73 CAMEC Plc (2007) Mutanda Congo (Kinshasa) -10.79 Glencore International plc (2011) Mutoshi Congo (Kinshasa) -10.65 Wilson and others (2013) Tenke Fungurume1 Congo (Kinshasa) -10.58 Nilsson and others (2011) Tilwezembe Congo (Kinshasa) -10.80 Wilson and others (2013)
Table F1 F35 Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits—Continued Boleo Mexico -112.30 Baja Mining Corp. (2011) Kilembe Uganda Vangold Resources Ltd. (2013) Sheep Creek (Black Butte) United States -110.90 Tintina Resources Inc. (2016) Baluba-MuliashiLuanshya Zambia -13.50 Wilson and others (2013) Chambishi Southeast Zambia -12.66 Wilson and others (2013) ChibulumaChibuluma West Zambia -12.92 Wilson and others (2013) Chimiwungo Zambia -12.18 Wilson and others (2013) Chingola-Nchanga Zambia -12.51 Wilson and others (2013) Kalumbila Zambia -12.21 Wilson and others (2013) Malundwe Zambia -12.16 Wilson and others (2013) Mindola-Nkana N-S Zambia -12.80 Wilson and others (2013) Nama Zambia -12.26 Wilson and others (2013) Ni-Co laterite deposits Bell Creek-NeckMinnamoolka Australia -18.14 Metallica Minerals Ltd. (2013) Cawse Australia -30.38 Berger and others (2011) Claude Hills Australia -26.00 Metals X Ltd. (2013) Greenvale-KokomoLucknow Australia -18.97 Metallica Minerals Ltd. (2013) Kalgoorlie Nickel2 Australia -30.10 Heron Resources Ltd. (2013) Marlborough Australia -23.01 Berger and others (2011) Murrin Murrin Australia -28.77 Minara Resources Pty Ltd. (2011) Ora Banda Australia -30.24 Berger and others (2011) Ravensthorpe Australia -33.65 Berger and others (2011) Summervale/Westlynn Australia -31.55 Jervois Mining Ltd. (2013) Weld Range Australia -26.82 Minara Resources Pty Ltd. (2005) Wingellina Australia -26.06 Metals X Ltd. (2013) Yerilla Australia -29.73 Heron Resources Ltd. (2013) Young Australia -35.77 Jervois Mining Ltd. (2013) Jacaré Brazil -6.21 -52.86 Berger and others (2011) Niquelandia Brazil -14.35 -48.40 Berger and others (2011) Santa Fe Brazil -15.67 -51.12 Berger and others (2011) Serra do Tapa Brazil -6.85 -49.33 Berger and others (2011) Vale dos Sonhos Brazil -6.97 -49.26 Berger and others (2011)
F36 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Ni-Co laterite deposits—Continued Vermelho Brazil -6.24 -49.75 Berger and others (2011) Vila Oito Brazil -7.79 -49.35 Berger and others (2011) Musongati Burundi -3.79 Berger and others (2011) Nyabikere Burundi -3.28 Berger and others (2011) Waga Burundi -3.56 Berger and others (2011) Nkamouna (includes Mada) Cameroon Geovic Mining Corp. (2013) Moa Cuba -74.96 Berger and others (2011) Nicaro Cuba -75.54 Berger and others (2011) Pinares de Mayari Cuba -75.72 Berger and others (2011) Punta Gorda Cuba -74.89 Berger and others (2011) Sechol Guatemala -89.66 Berger and others (2011) Bhimatangar India Berger and others (2011) Kansa India Berger and others (2011) Saruabil India Berger and others (2011) Gag Island Indonesia -0.45 Berger and others (2011) Halmahera/Weda Bay Indonesia -0.50 Berger and others (2011) La Sampala Indonesia -2.70 Berger and others (2011) Tiuba-Biankouma Ivory Coast -7.62 Berger and others (2011) Gornostai Kazakhstan Berger and others (2011) Kempirsai Kazakhstan Berger and others (2011) Cikatova Kosovo Berger and others (2011) Glavica Kosovo Berger and others (2011) Ržanovo Macedonia Berger and others (2011) Ambatovy Madagascar -18.87 Berger and others (2011) Analamay Madagascar -18.85 Berger and others (2011) Tavai Malaysia Tiger International Resources Inc. (2006) Goro New Caledonia -22.31 Berger and others (2011) Kouaoua New Caledonia -21.42 Berger and others (2011) Nakety New Caledonia -21.51 Berger and others (2011) Nepoui New Caledonia -21.22 Berger and others (2011) Thio New Caledonia -21.62 Berger and others (2011) Tiébaghi New Caledonia -20.45 Berger and others (2011) Mambare Papua New Guinea -9.00 Direct Nickel Pty Ltd. (2013) Ramu Papua New Guinea -5.53 Berger and others (2011) Wowo Gap Papua New Guinea -9.68 Berger and others (2011)
Table F1 F37 Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Ni-Co laterite deposits—Continued Acoje/Zambales Philippines Berger and others (2011) Agata/Bolobolo/ Karihatag Philippines Gifford and others (2011) Berong Philippines Berger and others (2011) Cagdianao Philippines Berger and others (2011) Ipilan Philippines Berger and others (2011) Mindoro Philippines Berger and others (2011) Nonoc Philippines Berger and others (2011) Rio Tuba (Coral Bay) Philippines Nickel Asia Corp. (2011) Taganaan Philippines Nickel Asia Corp. (2011) Taganito/Adlay Philippines Nickel Asia Corp. (2011) Guanajibo Puerto Rico3 -67.16 Berger and others (2011) Las Mesas Puerto Rico3 -67.10 Berger and others (2011) Akkermanov Russia Berger and others (2011) Buruktal Russia Berger and others (2011) Cheremshanskoe Russia Berger and others (2011) Lipovskoe Russia Berger and others (2011) Rogozhinskoe Russia Berger and others (2011) Serovskoe Russia Berger and others (2011) Sinarskoe Russia Berger and others (2011) Rudjinci Serbia Berger and others (2011) Isabela Island (Bugotu) Solomon Islands -8.39 Berger and others (2011) Dutwa Tanzania -3.67 African Eagle Resources Plc (2013) Çaldağ Turkey Berger and others (2011) Magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfide deposits Kambalda Australia -31.64 Naldrett (2004) Mt. Keith Australia -27.71 Naldrett (2004) Savannah (Sally Malay) Australia -17.35 Panoramic Resources Ltd. (2012) Americano do Brasil (Salgado) Brazil -16.10 -50.08 Votorantim Group (2006) Fortaleza de Minas Brazil -21.00 -48.50 Votorantim Group (2006) Santa Rita Brazil -14.19 -39.73 Mirabela Nickel Ltd. (2012) Dumont Canada -78.44 2,134.2 Staples and others (2012) Ferguson Lake Canada -96.97 Starfield Resources Inc. (2013) Makwa (Maskwa) Canada -95.43 Mustang Minerals Corp. (2013)
F38 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Magmatic sulfide deposits—Continued Nunavik (includes Mesamax) Canada -73.26 Armstrong, Puritch, and Yassa (2010) Raglan Canada -74.29 Xstrata plc (2011) Shakespeare Canada -81.83 Prophecy Platinum Corp. (2013a) Sudbury Canada -81.38 2,648 Naldrett (2004) Thompson Canada -98.81 Naldrett (2004) Turnagain Canada -128.83 Hard Creek Nickel Corp. (2013) Voisey's Bay Canada -73.57 Naldrett (2004) Wellgreen Canada -139.50 Prophecy Platinum Corp. (2013b) Jinchuan China Naldrett (2004) Yangliuping China Pirajno (2013) Hitura Finland Eilu (2012) Kevitsa Finland First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (2011) Kotalahti Finland Eilu (2012) Laukunkangas Finland Eilu (2012) Stormi Finland Eilu (2012) Bruvann (Råna) Norway Eilu (2012) Ertelien Norway Eilu (2012) Flåt Norway Eilu (2012) Stormyra (including Dalen) Norway Eilu (2012) NKT Russia Eilu (2012) Noril'sk-Talnakh area Russia 1,309.0 Naldrett (2004) Pechenga Russia Naldrett (2004) Sopchuaivench Russia Eilu (2012) Nkomati South Africa -25.67 African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. (2011) Aguablanca Spain -6.18 Lundin Mining Corp. (2012) Kabanga Tanzania -2.87 Xstrata plc (2011) Eagle United States -87.90 Owen and Meyer (2013) Mesaba (Babbitt/ Minnamax) United States -91.88 1,106.5 Teck Resources Ltd. (2010) Northmet United States -91.97 Polymet Mining Corp. (2013) Twin Metals
United States -91.76 2,425.9 Duluth Metals Ltd. (2012) Munali Zambia -16.00 Albidon Ltd. (2007) Black-shale-hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co deposits Talvivaara Finland 2,053 Talvivaara Mining Company Plc (2013)
Table F1 F39 Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Fe-Cu-Co skarn and replacement deposits Goroblagodat Russia Herrington and others (2005) Magnitogorsk Russia Herrington and others (2005) Cornwall United States -76.40 Rose and others (1985); grade calculated Iron oxide-Cu-Au(-Ag-U-REE-Co-Ni) deposits Basil Australia -22.07 Mithril Resources Ltd. (2013) Ernest Henry Australia -20.43 Williams and Pollard (2001) Greenmount Australia -21.03 Williams and Pollard (2001) Mount Oxide Australia -19.48 Chalice Gold Mines Ltd. (2012) Olympic Dam Australia -30.43 Williams and Pollard (2001) Rover 1 Australia -20.00 Metals X Ltd. (2013) Lala (Lalachang) China Chen and Zhou (2012) Guelb Moghrein Mauritania -14.38 Kolb and others (2006) Metasedimentary-rock-hosted Co-Cu-Au deposits NICO Canada -116.75 Slack (2013) Werner Lake Canada -94.97 Slack (2013) Haarakumpu Finland Slack (2013) Juomasuo Finland Slack (2013) Kouvervaara Finland Slack (2013) Vähäjoki Finland Slack (2013) Skuterud Norway Slack (2013) Blackbird (district) United States -114.35 Slack (2013) Polymetallic (Ag-Ni-Co-As-Bi) and other cobalt-rich veins Cobalt-Gowganda (districts) Canada -79.69 Petruk and others (1971) Bou Azzer (district) Morocco -6.91 Bouabdellah and others (2016) Karakul Russia Puget Ventures Inc. (2013) Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) massive sulfide deposits Chu Chu Canada -120.06 Mosier and others (2009) Soucy No. 1 Canada -69.87 Mosier and others (2009) Windy Craggy Canada -137.73 Peter and Scott (1999) Deerni China Galley and others (2007) Dur'ngoi China Xu and Zhu (2000) Luikonlahti Finland Mosier and others (2009) Outokumpu Finland Mosier and others (2009)
F40 Critical Mineral Resources of the United States— Cobalt Table F1. Location, grade, tonnage, and other data for selected cobalt deposits of the world.— Continued [Tonnage and grade include reserves, other resources, and past production (where available). WGS 84, World Geodetic System of 1984; negative values for latitude indicate that the deposit is in the Southern Hemisphere; negative values for longitude indicate that the deposit is in the Western Hemisphere; Congo (Kinshasa), Democratic Republic of the Congo; EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone; Mt, million metric tons; %, percent. Element: Ag, silver; Au, gold; As, arsenic; Bi, bismuth; Co, cobalt; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Mn, manganese; Mo, molybdenum; Ni, nickel; REE, rare-earth elements; Zn, zinc] Deposit Country Latitude Longitude Tonnage (Mt) Grade (% Co) Co content (Mt) Principal data source and notes (decimal degrees WGS 84) Volcanogenic Cu(-Zn-Co-Ag-Au) massive sulfide deposits—Continued Outokumpu (Kylylahti) Finland Altona Mining Ltd. (2013) Outokumpu (Luikonlahti) Finland Eilu (2012) Outokumpu (Saramäki) Finland Eilu (2012) Outokumpu (Vuonos) Finland Eilu (2012) Gaiskoye (Gai and Gai East) Russia Prokin and Buslaev (1999) Ishkinino Russia Herrington and others (2005) Ivanovskoe Russia Mosier and others (2009) Komsomolskoye Russia Prokin and Buslaev (1999) Letneye Russia Prokin and Buslaev (1999) Sibaiskoye Russia Prokin and Buslaev (1999) Kure (Asikoy) Turkey Mosier and others (2009) Turner Albright United States -123.76 Mosier and others (2009) Sea-floor Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) nodules Pioneer Indian Ocean -14.00 Banakar (2010) Clarion-Clipperton zone Pacific Ocean -140.00 21,100.0 Hein and others (2013) Cook Islands EEZ Pacific Ocean -10.00 -170.00 5,122.0 Hein and others (2013) Sea-floor Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-REE) crusts Maderia-Tore Rise (MTR) Atlantic Ocean -15.00 1,100.0 Muiños and others (2013) Nameless Atlantic Ocean -15.00 Muiños and others (2013) Unicorn Atlantic Ocean -14.50 Muiños and others (2013) Afanasiy-Nikitin seamount Indian Ocean -3.00 Parthiban and Banakar (1999) Pacific prime crust zone Pacific Ocean 7,533.0 Hein and others (2013) 1Data for Tenke Fungurume include results for 7 deposits: Fwaulu, Fungurume, Kansalawile, Kwatebala, Mambilima, Mwadinkomba, and Tenke. 2Data for Kalgoorlie Nickel include results for 10 deposits: Big Four, Black Range, Bulong, Ghost Rocks, Goongarrie Hill, Goongarrie South, Highway, Kalpini, Siberia, and Siberia North. 3Territory of the United States. 4Cobalt data from D.M. Peterson, Duluth Metals Ltd., written commun. to J.F. Slack, March 25, 2013. 5Size and grade estimated.
For more information concerning this report, please contact: Mineral Resources Program Coordinator U.S. Geological Survey 913 National Center Reston, VA 20192 Telephone: 703- 648- 6100 Fax: 703- 648- 6057 Email: minerals@usgs.gov Home page: ://minerals.usgs.gov Prepared by the USGS Science Publishing Network Reston Publishing Service Center Edited by J.C. Ishee Illustrations by Caryl J. Wipperfurth Layout by Caryl J. Wipperfurth and Cathy Y. Knutson Posting by Angela E. Hall
Slack and others—Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Cobalt —Professional Paper 1802-F ISSN 2330-7102 (online) ://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802F