Very true all of that. The vertical integration is important, glad he mentioned it. The producers don't want to be left without feed-stock by people that can't supply reliably, and importantly at the (very low) cost they want, makes a lot of sense. Not much room for middle-men.
His inflation stuff is also totally WRONG btw. 2007-2008 $54 a pound or whatever for Cobalt does not translate to $200USD today, that is bull, and a ramping attempt on his part: it's more like $61/62 adjusted for some inflation. Just based on that he loses a lot of credibility points.. Jack should go water the plants or something.
Also to be honest, if Cobalt hits $61USD a pound again like the extraordinary 2007-2008 period, who cares if it starts getting substituted by other materials, or reduced in use, it is time to sell out, and take your profit, at that point. Also cobalt cannot be substituted away in all instances... and the more the producers make, the more the demand side lifts, which makes it unusual.
Also if they target stuff like Tantalum, Cobalt may become the target ore, not just as the by-product, surprising he doesn't get that either.
(20min delay)