EVERYDAY MATERIALSAtlas
2025 estimated output / USGS 2026

Cobalt

Cobalt content of annual mine production. The numbers measure mine output, not refined cobalt, cobalt chemicals, exports or battery manufacture.

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Mine production, contained cobalt

metric tonnes of cobalt / 2025
Cobalt 2025 production by countryTab through country markers to hear quantities. Select a marker to reach its table row. Approximate country centres, not production sites. Circle area is proportional to output. All figures are also in the table below.Congo (Kinshasa): 230,000 metric tonnes of cobaltIndonesia: 44,000 metric tonnes of cobaltRussia: 7,700 metric tonnes of cobaltMadagascar: 3,900 metric tonnes of cobaltAustralia: 3,700 metric tonnes of cobaltPhilippines: 3,700 metric tonnes of cobaltCanada: 3,500 metric tonnes of cobaltPapua New Guinea: 2,800 metric tonnes of cobaltChina: 2,000 metric tonnes of cobaltCuba: 2,000 metric tonnes of cobaltTurkey: 1,900 metric tonnes of cobaltUnited States: 300 metric tonnes of cobalt
Select or focus a country marker to read its reported output. The full table is below.

Approximate country centres, not mine or factory sites. Circle areas scale with output; very small markers have a minimum visible size. Natural Earth land outline, public domain. Country groupings without coordinates appear only in the table.

Cobalt · Mine production, contained cobalt · 2025 estimates
Country / reporting groupmetric tonnes of cobalt
Congo (Kinshasa)230,000
Indonesia44,000
Russia7,700
Madagascar3,900
Australia3,700
Philippines3,700
Canada3,500
Papua New Guinea2,800
China2,000
Cuba2,000
Turkey1,900
United States300
Other countries9,100
World total (rounded)310,000

Read the pattern.

Congo (Kinshasa) has the largest reported mine output, with Indonesia second. This concentration describes mining, not all later processing. Cobalt is commonly recovered alongside copper or nickel, so its supply is connected to the economics and processing of other metals. Production estimates alone do not quantify labour conditions, environmental performance or the content of any particular battery.

From country output to a real object

Cobalt-bearing feed is separated and refined into products such as metal or chemical salts. These may be made into alloys or certain battery cathodes in different countries. Some lithium-ion chemistries contain no cobalt. Identifying a product’s actual supply chain requires manufacturer and supplier evidence beyond this worldwide production table.

Cobalt

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Original explanations informed by the sources below. Technical and industry sources support material behaviour; industry environmental marketing is not treated as a universal comparison. Read our editorial method.