Promoting the responsible use of cobalt in all forms

COBALT NEWS

Promoting the sustainable and responsible use of cobalt in all forms

Issue 5, January 2019

EARTH’S COBALT DEPOSITS FORMED

MUCH LATER THAN PREVIOUSLY

BELIEVED

THE BATTERY BOOM TO ATTRACT

$620 BILLION IN INVESTMENT

BY 2040

INTRODUCING

THE COBALT INDUSTRY RESPONSIBLE

ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (CIRAF)

HISTORICAL SERIES:

COBALT, AN ESSENTIAL

COMPONENT OF LIFE

COMMENT

2 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

We are off to a great start for 2019, cobalt continues to be

one of the most sought-after metals of the moment with the

long-term demand picture looking encouraging as electric

mobility begins to start dominating the end-use for cobalt.

The year 2018 therefore ended with the metal attracting the

spotlight worldwide particularly when speaking about the

topic of rechargeable batteries and electric vehicles. This is

the positive side of the limelight though. In the past year, co-

balt continued to be scrutinized in the EU under its REACH

regulatory framework in a disproportionate manner without

at the same time acknowledging the fact that, as we have

stated on other occasions, cobalt is an irreplaceable material

in most of today’s applications from portable electronic de-

vices, renewable energy applications and aircraft engines

through to energy storage units and the booming EV sector,

all crucial to creating the future low carbon economy. Hope-

fully 2019 brings a better understanding of cobalt as an es-

sential technology enabling metal.

The CI promotes the sustainable and responsible production

and use of cobalt and we are delighted to announce in this

issue the launch of the Cobalt Industry Responsible Assess-

ment Framework (CIRAF), a comprehensive good practice

framework and management tool on sustainable cobalt pro-

duction and sourcing. You will be able to read a full article

about it in the present edition.

Finally, the Historical Series section will provide you with

more data in support of the bioessentiality of cobalt, an ele-

ment crucial to the well-being of human beings and animals.

3 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

2 Comment

4 Earth’s cobalt deposits formed

much later than previously

believed

6 The battery boom to attract

$620 billion in investment by

2040

10 Acid-free dissolution rare-

earth magnet recycling

Process

12 Nanomaterial catalyst could

help contain fuel cell costs?

14 Introducing the Cobalt Indus

try Responsible Assessment

Framework (CIRAF)

18 Historical Series: Cobalt, an

essential component of life

CONTENTS

EARTH’S

COBALT

DEPOSITS

FORMED

MUCH

LATER

THAN

PREVIOUSLY

BELIEVED

4 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

Using a new technique to measure

the age of cobalt-copper ore in

Central Africa, U of A geologists de-

termined the deposits are 150 mil-

lion years younger than previously

thought. The discovery opens the

possibility of finding more cobalt

sources around the world.

New dating technique shows co-

balt and copper mineralization

occurred 150 million years more

recently than originally thought.

Cobalt deposits in one of Earth’s

largest cobalt-mining regions are

150 million years younger than pre-

viously thought, according to a new

study by University of Alberta geol-

ogists.

Working with former post-doctoral

fellow Nicolas Saintilan, U of A geo-

chemist Robert Creaser, Canada Re-

search Chair in Isotope Geochemis-

try, used a new, rhenium-osmium

dating system to examine the rich

cobalt deposits in the Democratic

Republic of Congo.

Their results show that cobalt and

copper mineralization occurred

during a period of mountain build-

ing and deformation between 610

470 million years ago, suggesting that the deposits formed 100 to 150 million years more re-

cently than originally thought.

The study also provides critical insight into exploration for cobalt, an important component in

rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in everything from smartphones to hybrid cars.

“Using this new knowledge of the timing of events that formed cobalt deposits, we can target

regions for exploring known cobalt deposits and discovering new ones,” said Creaser.

Cobalt enables rechargeable batteries to stock energy without overheating. It is a strategic metal

for the technological revolution, critical in efforts to face and remediate climate change.

Because of its use in lithium-ion batteries, cobalt is a hot commodity on the international mar-

ket—creating steep competition. Most large cobalt deposits are located in developing or poverty

-stricken regions in Central Africa. Exploration can be mired in human rights, geopolitical and

sustainability issues, Creaser explained.

“The conundrum is that the western world needs cobalt, and the conditions in some places we

currently get it from can be exploitative.

“The biggest value of this research is opening the possibility of finding more prospective areas

worldwide for sources of cobalt. This background information helps exploration geologists de-

velop ideas of where and where not to look,” said Creaser.

The research was supported by David Selby at Durham University in the United Kingdom. Key

samples were provided by Stijn Dewaele at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium.

The paper, “Sulphide Re-Os Geochronology Links Orogenesis, Salt and Cu-Co Ores in the Cen-

tral African Copperbelt,” was published in Scientific Reports.

(This article was posted on Folio, 20 November 2018)

5 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

Cobalt is a strategic metal for the technological

revolution, critical in efforts to face and

remediate climate change

6 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

The battery boom is coming to China, Califor-

nia and basically everywhere else—and it will

be even bigger than previously thought.

The global energy-storage market will surge to

a cumulative 942 gigawatts by 2040, according

to a new forecast from Bloomberg NEF pub-

lished Tuesday, and that growth will necessitate

$620 billion in investment. Sharply falling bat-

tery costs is a key driver of the boom. BNEF

sees the capital cost of a utility-scale lithium-

ion storage system falling another 52 percent

by 2030.

But cost isn’t the only factor. Governments

from China to California are spurring demand,

as is the rise of electric vehicles and solar pow-

er. There’s also been a greater focus on storage

for electric-vehicle charging as well as energy

access in remote areas.

“Costs have come down faster than we

expected,” Yayoi Sekine, a New York-based an-

alyst at BNEF, said in an interview. “Batteries are

going to permeate our lives.”

The implications of cheaper batteries are far-

reaching, upending multiple industries and

helping spur technologies necessary to help

fight climate change. Batteries power the elec-

tric vehicles that are popping up on our free-

ways. They also unlock solar power from the

exclusive confines of the sun.

Two important markets come into particular

focus. China, which is building up its battery-

manufacturing capacity, will be a central player

in the boom. California, meanwhile, has pushed

through a series of measures in recent years

that will directly or indirectly spur more batter-

ies, including legislation that would require all

of the state’s electricity to come from carbon-

free sources by 2045.

free sources by 2045.

THE BATTERY BOOM

TO ATTRACT $620

BILLION IN

INVESTMENT BY 2040

7 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

“Storage is just so sensibly the next step in the

evolution of renewable energy,” Edward Fen-

ster, the executive chairman of San Francisco-

based rooftop-solar company Sunrun Inc., said

in an interview. “If we’re going to get to 100

percent renewable energy, we’ll need storage.”

Here are six key takeaways from the latest BNEF

battery forecast:

Cumulative energy-storage deployments are

now forecast to exceed 50 gigawatt-hours by

2020. That’s three years earlier than BNEF’s

outlook from just last year. Energy storage may

be equivalent to 7 percent of the world’s total

installed power capacity by 2040. The Asia-

Pacific region will be home to 45 percent of to-

tal installations on a megawatt basis by 2040.

Another 29 percent will be spread across Eu-

rope, Middle East and Africa. The remainder will

be in the Americas. The majority of storage ca-

pacity will be utility-scale until the mid-2030s.

But then so-called behind-the-meter pro-

jects—installations at businesses, industrial sites

and residential properties—will overtake utility-

scale. A list of the leading battery countries is

topped by who you would expect: China, U.S.,

India, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, South

Korea and the U.K. South Korea today domi-

nates the market but will be overtaken by the

U.S. early in the 2020s—and both will later be

eclipsed by China. Storage is coming to devel-

oping countries in Africa, too. BNEF explains it

thusly: utilities will likely recognize that the

combination of solar, diesel and batteries in “far

-flung sites” is cheaper than extending the

power grid or building a fossil-only generator.

(This article was posted on Mining.com, 20 November

2018)

Two important markets come into

particular focus. China, which is building

up its battery-manufacturing capacity,

will be a central player in the boom.

California, meanwhile, has pushed

through a series of measures in recent

years that will directly or indirectly spur

more batteries

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CONFERENCE Hong Kong 15 - 16 May

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An acid-free dissolution rare-earth magnet

recycling process has earned a 2018 Notable

Technology Development Award from the

Federal Laboratories Consortium (FLC).

Researchers at the Critical Materials Institute

(CMI) and Ames Laboratory invented a mag-

net recycling process in which magnets are

dissolved in water-based solutions, recover-

ing more than 99 percent purity rare earth

elements. Cobalt is also recovered from co-

balt-containing magnet wastes. The rare

earth materials recovered have been reused

in making new magnets, and the recovered

cobalt shows promise for use in making bat-

tery cathodes.

One of the panel judges commented, “Rare

earths are used in industry, defense, and

electronics. If they can be obtained through

recycling rather than imported from a for-

eign country, this innovation is worthy of

recognition.”

This technology resulted from analyzing in-

dustrially generated wastes from three U.S.

magnet manufacturing and processing com-

panies. A U.S. hard disk drive shredding

company supplied shredded HDDs. These

collaborations ensured that materials used

for this research are same as those generat-

ed in real-life situations. In addition, the

Ames Laboratory Materials Preparation Cen-

ter reduced the magnets from this research

into metal ingots. Collaboration is on-going

with a commercial partner, Infinium Metals,

to produce metal ingots at larger scale.

ACID-FREE

DISSOLU-

TION

RARE-

EARTH

MAGNET

RECYCLING

PROCESS

11 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

The inventors of the process are Ikenna Nlebe-

dim and Denis Prodius, both of Ames Labora-

tory; and Anja-Verena Mudring, formerly at

Ames Laboratory but currently at Stockholm

University. Patents for the process are filed.

Information on this and other CMI inventions

may be found at cmi.ameslab.gov.

A unique strength of this technology is that

operational hazards and negative environ-

mental impacts associated with acid-based

dissolution process are eliminated without sac-

rificing purity, efficiency and potential eco-

nomic impact” said Ikenna Nlebedim, the lead

investigator for the research. “We’re extremely

proud of this success, because it demonstrates

the effectiveness of the Critical Materials Insti-

tute to deliver innovations that lessen our do-

mestic reliance on imported specialty materi-

als,” said CMI Director Chris Haase. “We look

forward to leveraging CMI’s world-class tech-

nology, skills and network to enable timely,

profitable and environmentally responsible

technology deployments.”

The award will be presented at the FLC Far

West and Mid-Continent Regional Meeting

held in Oklahoma City, Okla. Aug. 28-30. The

Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology

Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of

federal laboratories that provides the forum to

develop strategies and opportunities for link-

ing laboratory mission technologies and ex-

pertise with the marketplace.

(This article was posted on FLC)

Cobalt is recovered from

cobalt-containing magnet wastes

The recovered cobalt shows

promise for use in making

battery cathodes

12 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

The new catalyst developed at Brown University

combines an outer shell of platinum atoms

(grey spheres) with ordered layers of platinum

and cobalt atoms (blue spheres) in its core. The

ordered layers help to tighten the shell and

protect the cobalt, which makes that catalyst

more reactive and durable. (Image source: Sun

lab / Brown University)

A team at Brown University has devel-

oped a platinum cobalt alloy catalyst

that might help bring down the price

of hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are an attractive

concept. Hydrogen is combined with oxygen

from the air to produce electricity and water

vapor. The electricity can be used to power an

electric motor, making an electric vehicle (EV)

that is virtually emissions free and that can be

refueled in a matter of minutes. But fuel cells

face a host of challenges before they can be-

come practical power sources for everyday

use—not the least of which is the high cost of

the platinum metal used as a reaction catalyst.

Alloyed with Platinum

An approach that has been tried is to combine

platinum with cheaper metals. Although this

has shown some promise, the alloyed catalysts

degrade quickly inside the fuel cells until they

no longer will operate. Researchers at Brown

University, however, have found a catalyst that

is made from alloying platinum with cobalt in

nanoparticles, which is showing great promise.

The new catalyst was shown to beat U.S. De-

partment of Energy (DOE) targets for the year

2020 in both reactivity and durability, according

to tests described in the journal Joule.

The research was reported in a Brown Universi-

ty news release. "The durability of alloy cata-

lysts is a big issue in the field," said Junrui Li, a

graduate student in chemistry at Brown and the

study's lead author. "It's been shown that alloys

perform better than pure platinum initially, but

in the conditions inside a fuel cell, the non-

precious metal part of the catalyst gets oxi-

dized and leached away very quickly."

Alloy Nanoparticles

To prevent such leaching, the Brown University

NANOMATERIAL

CATALYST COULD HELP

CONTAIN FUEL CELL

COSTS?

13 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

team developed alloy nanoparticles that had a

specialized structure. The outer shell of the par-

ticle is pure platinum that surrounds a core

made from alternating layers of platinum and

cobalt atoms.

"The layered arrangement of atoms in the core

helps to smooth and tighten platinum lattice in

the outer shell," said Shouheng Sun, professor

of chemistry at Brown and senior author of the

research. "That increases the reactivity of the

platinum and, at the same time, protects the

cobalt atoms from being eaten away during a

reaction. That's why these particles perform so

much better than alloy particles with random

arrangements of metal atoms," he added.

The research team tested the ability of the cata-

lyst to perform the oxygen reduction reaction,

which is critical to fuel cell performance and du-

rability. “On one side of a proton exchange

membrane (PEM) fuel cell, electrons stripped

away from hydrogen fuel create a current that

drives an electric motor. On the other side of

the cell, oxygen atoms take up those electrons

to complete the circuit. That's done through the

oxygen reduction reaction,” they explained in

the news release.

The Testing Shows Promise

The testing showed the new catalyst to be

promising, maintaining its activity after 30,000

voltage cycles. Laboratory tests of the catalysts

were just the first step. The team sent its new

alloy material to the Los Alamos National Lab

for testing in an actual fuel cell—an environ-

ment that is much hotter and that differs in

acidity compared to the laboratory testing envi-

ronment. According to the Brown news release,

“The testing showed that the catalyst beats tar-

gets set by the Department of Energy (DoE) for

both initial activity and longer-term durability.

DoE has challenged researchers to develop a

catalyst with an initial activity of 0.44 amps per

milligram of platinum by 2020, and an activity of

at least 0.26 amps per milligram after 30,000

voltage cycles (roughly equivalent to five years

of use in a fuel cell vehicle). Testing of the new

catalyst showed that it had an initial activity of

0.56 amps per milligram and an activity after

30,000 cycles of 0.45 amps.”

One potential downside is that cobalt has be-

come a sought-after material because of its use

in lithium ion batteries. Its primary source is the

Democratic Republic of the Congo—a politically

unstable region. Both of these factors have re-

sulted in a great deal of price volatility for co-

balt raw materials.

The team at Brown has filed initial patents on

its catalyst concept while continuing

the research. These initial results might be

enough for commercialization, however.

"Even after 30,000 cycles, our catalyst still ex-

ceeded the DoE target for initial activity," Sun

said. "That kind of performance in a real-world

fuel cell environment is really promising."

Senior Editor Kevin Clemens has been writing

about energy, automotive, and transportation

topics for more than 30 years. He has masters

degrees in Materials Engineering and Environ-

mental Education and a doctorate degree in

Mechanical Engineering, specializing in aerody-

namics. He has set several world land speed

records on electric motorcycles that he built in

his workshop.

(This article was posted on Design News, 26 October

2018)

14 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

INTRODUCING THE

COBALT INDUSTRY

RESPONSIBLE

ASSESSMENT

FRAMEWORK

(CIRAF)

On 9 January 2019, the Cobalt Institute (CI) launched the Cobalt Industry Responsible As-

sessment Framework (CIRAF)

In January 2019 the CIRAF will be launched with several Cobalt Institute (CI) members beginning

adoption of the framework.

The CIRAF will make ethical and sustainable risk assessment and mitigation in cobalt production

easier and more standardised across the industry while also aligning the process with the leading

global standard on responsible mineral supply chains; the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

Initial engagements have taken place with the stakeholder community and key standards setting

bodies, and further consultation will aim to take place including with the Responsible Minerals

Initiative (RMI) and the OECD.

Through the first year of CIRAF’s implementation further consultation will be undertaken as the

initiative goes in to practice. We look forward to a productive and collaborative relationship with

the stakeholder community.

What is CIRAF

The CIRAF is the culmination of an 18-month collaborative project between the CI, the CI’s Re-

sponsible Sourcing Task Group (RSTG), and leading responsible sourcing consultancy,

RCS Global.

Responsible and sustainable production practices have been at the top of the agenda for many

large-scale mining companies (LSM) since the late 1990s and responsible mining programs have

been developed collectively to help improve public awareness, address concern for occupational

health & safety, the environment and introduce the broader concept of sustainability.

The CIRAF builds on this commitment, helps to consolidate action being taken, and enables par-

ticipants, and the cobalt industry more generally, to conduct enhanced risk management in line

with industry good practice and internationally-recognised standards focused on the responsible

production and sourcing of minerals.

15 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

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The CIRAF project seeks to:

• Identify material risks within the cobalt sector for CIRAF participants as well as their

customers;

• Provide a good practice based framework that will provide guidance to CIRAF par-

ticipants on how to respond to core risks and report on existing responses with a

degree of flexibility that is most appropriate for their operations;

• Ensure the framework is credible, well-managed and accepted by stakeholders.

The CIRAF is not a certification or audit program. At present the CIRAF is a reporting

framework and management tool. Companies that complete the CIRAF process will

not receive accreditation or attestation.

It remains the individual company’s responsibility to demonstrate responsible produc-

tion/sourcing. However, companies will be able to reference the CIRAF conformance

level achieved in their public reporting on CIRAF.

Consolidating action, delivering sustainability

By providing a good practice framework on how to respond to nine priority risk areas

encompassed within four risk categories (see below), the CIRAF will consolidate due

diligence action being taken by companies across the cobalt industry to demonstrate

good practice and meet the expectations of civil society, the media, the cobalt market.

As such, the CIRAF provides a unified yet flexible approach towards sustainable cobalt

production and sourcing.

The project will further underpin the CI’s longstanding commitment to the responsible

production and use of cobalt in all forms and our position as a leading industry voice

on good practice in this regard.

Priority risk areas in scope of CIRAF

The CIRAF will support greater alignment in approaches to risk identification, assess-

ment and mitigation across the industry while incorporating leading international

standards on responsible mineral supply chains including the OECD Due Diligence

Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-

Risk Areas (OECD DDG).

The Framework is designed to be applied at a global level as per the OECD DDG Annex II. It pro-

vides a management framework for identifying risks linked to both production and/or sourcing

from high-risk countries as well as not operating in/sourcing from high-risk countries.

The CIRAF will provide a management framework to participants on how to respond to and man-

age four risk categories and nine risk areas.

The CIRAF participants must identify which risk categories and risks apply to their operations

based on a materiality assessment (see below). As a baseline requirement, participants must ob-

tain third party assurance of their policy and due diligence management system for the Human

Rights category.

The 4 risks categories encompass:

1. Environment (air/water/soil environmental impacts and biodiversity impacts)

2. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

3. Human Rights (as defined in Annex II of the OECD DDG)

4. Community (ASM, livelihoods and resettlement)

Within these groupings, a complete spectrum of responsible production and sourcing issues is

covered, ensuring the industry has the operational guidance and a management framework in

place to establish itself as one of the most progressive and responsible natural resource industries

in the sector.

The risk areas covered by the CIRAF meet and/or exceed market expectations through alignment

with the OECD DDG Annex II risks. Further engagement is planned to align with the RMI’s Risk

Readiness Assessment (RRA) tool.

117 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

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COBALT INSTITUTE HISTORICAL SERIES

Dr. John Twigge, BP Nutrition (UK) Ltd

COBALT,

AN ESSENTIAL

COMPONENT OF LIFE

19 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

Those of us who require to shed a

little weight, would be well advised

to recall the fact that our single

stomach does not digest plant ma-

terial at all well. In the animal king-

dom, this niche is occupied by the

ruminants. They have developed a

large pre-digestion fermentation

vat (the rumen) which degrades

plant products very efficiently.

Unlike the "true" stomach, the ru-

men does not possess any glands

to secrete digestive juices. Instead,

it contains millions of bacteria

which degrade the plant material

on behalf of the ruminant.

Ruminants come in all shapes and

sizes, as do their rumens. A small

ruminant, such as a sheep, would

have a rumen capacity of only 15

litres but the average sheep rumen

would contain 50,000,000,000,000

bacteria PLUS 2,500,000,000 proto-

zoa and other organisms.

Compare that to the modem dairy

cow with a rumen which occupies

3/4 of the animals abdominal cavity

and may have a volume in excess

of 100 litres!

This large population of microor-

ganisms is not only a vital compo-

nent in the provision of nutrients

from herbage, but also renders

other life supporting services to the

host ruminant. One of those, is the

natural synthesis of essential vita-

mins.

A modern dairy cow consumes vast

quantities of nutrients in order to

produce up to 85 pints of milk each

day. The conversion of the carbo-

hydrate feeds to useful energy, re-

quires the presence of a particular

B-group vitamin which is synthe-

sized by the rumen microbes. The

vitamin is B12 which has an atom

of cobalt at the heart of its struc-

ture.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 was isolated as recent-

ly as 1948 and several forms of the

vitamin are known to exist. The

structure of this cobalt based vita.

min (B12 is also known as Cyano-

cobalamin) is shown in figure 1.

It is thought to be exclusively pro-

duced by microbial synthesis and

its presence in foods which are rich

in B12, e.g. liver, is thought to be

originally from microbial synthesis.

If the supply of cobalt in the rumen

is limited, B12 cannot be synthe-

sized and the clinical signs of Co-

balt/B12 deficiency appear.

20 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

Although ruminants are grazing animals, the natural cobalt content of grass may be inade-

quate to sustain their requirements. The underlying geology of some areas further aggravates

the cobalt supply, with red sandstone and calcareous soils being often associated with low co-

balt levels.

Before the advent of concentrated mineral and vitamin supplements, a cure for cobalt insuffi-

ciency was to apply either cobalt sulphate or cobalt chloride to the land.

Various methods can be used, but typically, 6 kg of cobalt sulphate was mixed with 250 litres

of water which was sufficient to treat 1 hectare of land. In some areas where the terrain was

not conducive to spraying, the cobalt was pre-mixed with sand and usually applied in Febru-

ary before grass growth begins.

In upland and mountain areas, where animals roam over vast areas, the problem was one of

selecting the most suitable piece of land to treat. This was solved by applying the cobalt to the

patch of land around the point where the various sheep tracks crossed one another.

So important is the rumen synthesis of adequate vitamin B 12, that an animal receiving a diet

nutrious in every other component, may simply waste away to skin and bones if there is a de-

ficiency in cobalt (figures 2 and 3).

Fig. 2: Co deficient animal (top), note the severe emaciation. Bottom, the same animal

several weeks after Co administration (courtesy of R.B. Becker, Florida Agr. Expt. Sta.).

Fig. 1: The Cyanalocobalamin Structure

21 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

Fig. 3: Co deficient sheep. Note the severe

emaciation and wool chewing that has oc-

curred (right). The lamb on the left received

an adequate diet (courtesy of S.E. Smith,

Cornell Univ.).

The clinical signs of cobalt deficiency range

from a fairly mild lethargy and reduced ap-

petite, to emaciation, reduced milk/meat

production, poor viability of the newborn,

anemia and, ultimately, death. Such severe

(and terminal) symptoms emanate from the

absence of minute amounts of cobalt in the

daily diet of the ruminant.

Microbial synthesis of B12 is inadequate at

a concentration of 0.5 ppm but may be

sufficient at a concentration of 1.0 ppm in

the diet.

Modern production systems may exert a

negative effect on the rumen synthesis of

vitamin B12. Although the concentration of

cobalt in the diet may be adequate, the

large daily inputs of carbohydrate-based

feeds can reduce the ability of the rumen

microbes to synthesize sufficient vitamin

B12 of the correct type.

We have already noted that there are sev-

eral forms of the cobalt-containing vitamin

B12, and when cows are fed a highly con-

centrated diet, they may begin to synthe-

size a significant proportion of "false B12"

or B12 analogues. These analogues, e.g.

pseudo-B12 factor A and factor B, possess

virtually no activity, although they may

show up in blood tests thereby creating a

false positive.

Diagnosis of cobalt deficiency is difficult

when the condition exists in a mild form.

Analysis of the wet liver for “true" vitamin Bl

2 concentration can be useful but is not

very practical whilst the patient is still

breathing! (Table 1).

Various indirect tests have been used in

diagnosis of cobalt deficiency by measur-

ing the accumulation of metabolites ex-

creted via the urine. The absence of B12

based enzymes to facilitate energy

(propionate) utilization, causes the se-

quence of biochemical events to be hafted

at the point where the B12 should be ac-

tive. The blockage leads to an accumula-

tion of methyl malonate which is excreted

in the urine, thus forming the basis of a di-

agnostic test.

Table 1 - Wet Liver Analysis

Condition

of

Animal

Vitamin B12

Concentration (µg/g wet wt)

Severe Cobalt deficiency <0.07

Moderate Cobalt

Deficiency 0.07-040

Mild Cobalt Deficiency 0.11-0.19

Cobalt Sufficiency > 0.19

22 | www.cobaltinstitute.org

The need for a diagnostic test for cobalt deficiency is of course eliminated by the adoption of preven-

tative strategy. These days, this involves the use of complex vitamin/mineral mixtures which are ad-

ministered on a daily basis to the target species.

The combination of mineral elements, and the relative concentrations of each, will depend upon the

productive state of the animal the daily diet, the presence of any "antagonistic" substances (e.g. the

presence of high levels of son manganese can fix the cobalt into unavailable forms and the bioavaila-

bility of the various mineral elements to the animal- This leads to many different permutations of

different products available to meet the diverse requirements or modem livestock nutrition. Exam-

ples al just 6 of these products are shown in Table2. Mineral/vitamin mixtures can be offered "free

access" to the animal which consumes a basal level or minerals. This is then complemented by the

daily diet which is fortified with minerals and vitamins to Balance the total daily needs.

BP Nutrition not only produces mineral vitamin premixtures for most of the UK's feed companies, it is

also involved in producing diets for virtually every type of animal from pigs to penguins. rabbits to rhi-

nos, horses to hamsters. in fact, BP Nutrition is the world largest feed company providing products

and services throughout the food chain. Cobalt is vital to man. We cannot get our dose unless the

ruminants in our food chain get theirs. This article is aimed to show why and how, Courtesy 01 BP

(and others of course), they do.

ANIMAL FEEDS TO AVOID DEFICIENCIES

PRODUCT ANALYSIS CATTLE HI-PHOS DRY COW SHEEP MAXGRASS DAIRY MAXGRASS

SHEEP

Calcium (%) 17 16 - 16,5 7 15

Phosphorous (%) 6 12 14 6 14 9

Magnesium (%) 5 3 10 7 10 5

Sodium (%) 10 11,6 8,4 10 5 4,8

Sulphur (%) - - - - - -

Vitamin A (iu/kg) 320,000 400,000 400,000 300,000 500,000 350,000

Vitamin D3 (iu/kg) 60,000 80,000 100,000 80,000 125,000 90,000

Vitamin E (iu/kg) 400 800 800 600 1,000 1,000

Vitamin B1 (mg/kg) - - - - - 200

Vitamin B12 (µg/kg) - 1,400 - - 1,500 1,000

Iron (mg/kg) 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000

Cobalt (mg/kg) 120 160 160 160 220 250

Manganese (mg/kg) 3,000 5,000 5,000 2,000 6,000 5,000

Copper (mg/kg) 1,200 1,500 1,500 - 2,200 -

Zinc (mg/kg) 2,000 2,500 2,500 2,000 3,000 3,000

Iodine (mg/kg) 300 600 600 300 750 250

Selenium (mg/kg) 20 20 20 20 20 20

Table 2

COBALT INSTITUTE

www.cobaltinstitute.org

18 Jeffries Passage

GU1 4AP Guildford

UK

For further information:

CI@cobaltinstitute.org

COBALT INSTITUTE

CHAIRMAN

G. Ethier (Umicore)

VICE CHAIR

T. Litzinger (New Providence Metals)

DIRECTORS

I. Akalay (CTT)

D. Elliott (CMOC International)

G. Jones (ICoNiChem)

J. Lowe (Dynatec)

A. McCarthy (Albemarle)

V. Mittenzwei (Kennametal, Inc.)

M. Oehlers (Shu Powders)

M. Ohyama (Sumitomo MM)

H. Pihlaja (Freeport Cobalt)

M. Shumba (Borchers Americas )

P. Ringeisen (Sandvik)

F. Schulders (Glencore International)

M. Shepherd (Vale)

E. Taarland (Chambishi Metals)

THE COBALT INSTITUTE

The Cobalt Institute car-

ries out activities from a

head office in Guildford,

UK, to promote the use of

cobalt. It is legally incor-

porated as an association

of a wholly non-profit

making character in ac-

cordance with its memo-

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which are available on

request.

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by the Board.

Cobalt News exists to dis-

seminate promotion ma-

terial on uses for, and de-

velopment in, cobalt

technology supported by

items of interest to cobalt

producers, users and all

their customers. Unless

otherwise stated as copy-

right reserved, Cobalt

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of articles if fully credited

to Cobalt News and its

contributors where ap-

propriate.