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World’s No. 1 Cobalt Miner Notched Production Record in 2024

  • China’s CMOC more than doubled cobalt output to 114,165 tons
  • Benchmark cobalt prices crashed to an eight-year low last year

Workers at CMOC’s Tenke Fungurume mine in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Photographer: Emmet Livingstone/AFP/Getty Images
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The world’s No. 1 cobalt miner churned out a record volume of the metal in 2024, thanks to a speedy ramp-up of its giant mines in Africa.

China’s CMOC Group Ltd. said Monday it produced 114,165 tons of cobalt last year, according to a stock exchange filing citing preliminary data. That’s more than double its 2023 figure and surpassed earlier guidance for 2024 output, which was expected to total 70,000 tons at most.