Lualaba province, DRC. The Democratic Republic of Congo is, by far, the single most important source of cobalt in the world. 60% of the world’s cobalt, used in the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones, was mined in the DRC. Demand for cobalt is growing at over 5 percent a year, and it is expected to continue doing so as the lithium-ion battery market expands with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles.
