Cobalt
Battery cathode input produced largely as a copper by-product in the DRC, which accounts for the majority of world mine supply.
Key data
- Unit
- t
- Value
- Pending verification
- As of
- Pending verification
- Value chains
- Battery materials → Copper to cathode
- Leading African producers
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Tanzania
Market signals
Related projects
Kabanga Nickel Project
One of the largest development-stage nickel sulphide deposits worldwide, paired with a planned in-country hydrometallurgical refinery.
- Capacity
- To be verified
- Status
- Development stage
Tenke Fungurume
One of the largest copper-cobalt operations in the world, central to global cobalt supply.
- Capacity
- Major copper and cobalt output; see operator disclosures
- Status
- Operating
Leading African producers
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The DRC hosts the highest-grade major copper mines in the world and dominates global cobalt supply, with the Lobito Corridor reshaping how that output reaches international markets.
Zambia
Zambia's copper growth ambition depends as much on hydropower availability and Lobito Corridor logistics as on orebody quality.
Tanzania
Tanzania hosts the Kabanga nickel deposit and significant gold production, while the onshore LNG project remains subject to commercial agreement.
Related companies
miningCMOC Group
Luoyang, China
Operator of Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu in the DRC, making it one of the world's largest cobalt producers.
miningLifezone Metals
Isle of Man
Developing the Kabanga nickel project in Tanzania with a hydrometallurgical refining route intended to keep processing in-country.
Business opportunities
Kabanga nickel offtake and processing partnership
Battery-chain participants seeking non-Indonesian class-1 nickel units have a structural interest in Kabanga's in-country refining model.
Lobito Corridor logistics capacity
Copper and cobalt producers, freight forwarders and equipment suppliers are contracting capacity on the Atlantic corridor.
Value chains
Related industries
Related infrastructure
Related commodities
Copper
The core electrification metal. African supply is concentrated in the Central African Copperbelt across the DRC and Zambia.
Nickel
Kabanga in Tanzania is one of the largest development-stage nickel sulphide deposits globally.
Graphite
Anode feedstock. Mozambique and Tanzania hold some of the largest natural flake graphite resources outside China.
Lithium
Zimbabwe, Mali, Namibia and Ghana have moved African hard-rock lithium from exploration into production and concentrate export.
Diamonds
Botswana is the world's leading producer of natural diamonds by value, with Namibia's marine deposits, Angola and the DRC forming the rest of Africa's supply.
Gold
Ghana, South Africa, Mali, Tanzania and Burkina Faso anchor African gold output across large-scale and artisanal production.
Related news
DRC holds cobalt exports to 96,600 tonnes a year as refining stays in China
The DRC caps cobalt exports at 96,600 tonnes a year, while processing remains concentrated in China, according to Le Point.cd's review after the 23–25 September Trump–Xi meeting.
Tanzania positions Kabanga as an in-country refining model
The project's hydrometallurgical route is framed as a test of whether African nickel can move beyond concentrate export.
Lobito Corridor volumes become the metric to watch for Copperbelt exports
The Atlantic route shortens transit versus east coast alternatives; realised tonnage will determine its strategic weight.
Copperbelt growth keeps running into the power question
Expansion plans in Lualaba and North-Western Province depend on firm electricity, placing hydropower rehabilitation and imports at the centre of copper strategy.
Related intelligence
Africa's critical minerals: concentrate exporter or materials producer?
Graphite, lithium, nickel and cobalt endowments are established. Processing location is the open question that determines value capture.
African copper growth is a power and logistics problem
Grade is not the constraint in the Central African Copperbelt. Firm electricity and export corridor capacity are.
- U.S. Geological Survey
Mineral Commodity Summaries
Last verified 26 Aug 2026Verified
Every factual record carries its source organisation, link and verification status. Where a value cannot be verified from a primary public source, Nexus records it as not available.