General discussion, page-4375

Where do i even begin to counter you Wurlitch but let us make some points:

1 you have not addressed the issue that cobalt is a byproduct of Copper and Nickel (mostly). We all know commodities are cyclical. With China's building/real estate industry in disarray we could see a drop off in demand for base metals that could last years. Cobalt supply would be held hostage to such a downturn.

2. Niobium is a primary product not subject to the demand of another commodity like Nickel or Copper

3. You first article even in the title tells us that Indonesia has become a serious nickel player WITH THE BACKING OF CHINA....and hence we come back to the issue of supply under BRICs control

4. Your second article tells us that Indonesia is now the world's second biggest cobalt producer. The article also tells us they are producing just 5% of the world's cobalt while the Congo produces 73% . In what universe is this 78% of global production a secure source for western nations.

5. Your cobalt numbers are from 2022 and a lot has changed since then. Indonesia produced 9,500 tons (no doubt on the back of their nickel production) while Australia produced 7000 tons. But Australia's nickel production has since wound right back so the cobalt supply gains in Indo will largely be offset from a decrease from Australia. All this means is less cobalt for the west and more for BRICs,

6. Niobium based batteries will be superior in all the ways outlined in an earlier post, It is a primary commodity and we have ship loads here in Australia which can be made available to the western world.