Cobalt, Nickel and Battery Metals

What battery metals are used for

“Battery metals” usually means lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite, the main ingredients of lithium-ion batteries. In most batteries for electric vehicles and electronics, the cathode is a lithium compound mixed with some combination of nickel, manganese, cobalt or iron phosphate, and the anode is graphite. Each chemistry trades energy density, cost, safety and lifespan differently.

That balance keeps shifting. Battery makers have been cutting the cobalt content of their cathodes for years, and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which use no cobalt or nickel, hold a large share of the market in China. Demand for battery metals therefore depends on which chemistries win, not only on how many electric vehicles are sold. Nickel and manganese also have large markets outside batteries, mainly in steel.

Where the world’s cobalt comes from

The Democratic Republic of the Congo dominates cobalt mining. In 2025 it supplied an estimated 73% of the world’s mined cobalt, and Indonesia 14%, out of a world total of about 310,000 tons (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026).

Most cobalt is a by-product. In the DRC and Zambia it comes from sediment-hosted copper deposits; in Indonesia, Australia and elsewhere from nickel laterites and nickel-copper sulfides. That means cobalt supply often follows copper and nickel prices more than cobalt’s own. Supply policy matters too: the DRC temporarily banned cobalt exports in February 2025 and replaced the ban with export quotas in October, according to the USGS. China is the leading refiner and consumer of cobalt. Our article on global cobalt supply by country has more detail.

Nickel, manganese and graphite

Nickel has seen the biggest supply shift of any battery metal. Indonesia produced about 2.6 million of the world’s 3.9 million tons of mined nickel in 2025, roughly two-thirds, according to the USGS, after banning exports of unprocessed ore to build a domestic processing industry. New plants there process laterite ore into battery-grade intermediates as well as nickel for stainless steel. The USGS notes the global nickel market has been in surplus since 2022, which has weighed on prices and closed some higher-cost mines elsewhere. Our article on Indonesia’s nickel ore export ban follows the policy.

Manganese is mostly used in steel, with a smaller but growing share going into battery cathodes. Graphite for anodes comes from natural graphite mines and from synthetic graphite made from petroleum coke, and China dominates anode material production. The hub’s pieces on manganese mining and graphite mining and uses cover both.

Lithium

Lithium is the one metal every lithium-ion battery needs. It is mined in two main ways: from hard-rock spodumene deposits, with Australia the largest source, and from brines pumped out of salt flats in Chile and Argentina, where the water is evaporated in ponds. Newer direct lithium extraction methods aim to pull lithium from brine without large ponds. Lithium prices have swung widely over the past few years as new supply came in faster than expected. Recycling of spent batteries is growing as well, and over time it will supply a rising share of the lithium, cobalt and nickel the industry needs.

Cobalt mining companies and stocks

The largest cobalt mining companies operate the big copper-cobalt mines of the DRC, among them CMOC and Glencore, along with the producers behind Indonesia’s nickel-cobalt processing plants. Most of these are large diversified miners, so cobalt is only part of their business.

Cobalt stocks on the ASX and in Canada are mostly smaller companies developing nickel-cobalt or cobalt projects, rather than producers. This is general information, not investment advice, but it helps to know the risks people look at when they research cobalt stocks: whether the project has a resource reported under JORC or NI 43-101, whether its economics depend on cobalt alone or on a co-product, how much money it needs to reach production, and how exposed it is to swings in cobalt prices and DRC export policy. Our articles on ASX cobalt stocks and where each project stands and on the biggest cobalt mining companies and mines go into the names.

Responsible sourcing and new supply

A share of the DRC’s cobalt comes from artisanal miners, who dig by hand, often in unsafe pits and sometimes with child labor. Buyers increasingly use the OECD’s due diligence guidance for mineral supply chains and industry audit programs to trace where their cobalt comes from. The hub’s article on reporting on Congo’s cobalt covers the debate.

Concentration in a few countries is also driving exploration for new copper-cobalt and nickel-cobalt deposits. Our copper-cobalt case study describes satellite targets that were later tested by drilling. Our satellite mineral detection ranks Exploration Targets for cobalt, nickel, lithium and other minerals ahead of a JORC or NI 43-101 resource estimate, so field and drill programs start in the most promising parts of a license.