The majority of the world’s cobalt – a crucial metal for the lithium-ion batteries powering everything from cellular telephones to cars – is mined in exploitative conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, often by children. FreightWaves reported on the difficulty of sourcing ethical cobalt a year ago. Last month, FreightWaves covered a blockchain-based project led by Ford Motor Company, Huayou Cobalt, IBM, RCS Global and LG Chem to bring transparency to the cobalt supply chain and assure consumers that the metals in their electronics was ethically sourced.
Now another solution to the trouble with cobalt may be emerging. This morning, Quartz reported that venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures have invested in KoBold Metals, a startup that will use machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence on large sets of geological and chemical data to hunt for new sources of cobalt.
Read more at Benzinga.
Photo: Kuhlmann /MSC
