Struggling Australian cobalt miner blames Chinese overproduction for job cuts
Jervois mothballed a project in Idaho, which would have been the first new US cobalt mine in decades, about a year ago.
Australian miner Jervois Global is cutting costs and jobs in response to a plunge in cobalt prices that it’s blaming on Chinese oversupply.
The cobalt and nickel producer has axed or made part-time 30% of its senior corporate management roles, while fees for non-executive directors have been cut by the same amount, it said in a exchange filing. Some 5% of staff at its project in Finland have been let go, Jervois said.
Cobalt prices have plummeted by almost two-thirds over the past two years on rising supply — the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia have been mining more of the metal — and a slowdown in demand growth. Chinese plants processed 80% of global cobalt supply last year, according to specialist trading house Darton Commodities.
Jervois mothballed a project in Idaho, which would have been the first new US cobalt mine in decades, about a year ago, highlighting the challenge facing the Biden administration as it attempts to chip away at China’s dominance in the supply chains of metals vital to the energy transition.
The recent cost-cutting is due to “adverse cobalt market conditions caused by Chinese overproduction and its impact on pricing,” Jervois said, adding that it remained “determined to deliver a responsibly sourced, Western supply chain of critical minerals.”
The company’s shares tumbled as much as 17% in Sydney. They have plunged from a peak of 96.29 Australian cents (63 cents) in April 2022, to less than 3 cents as of 11:35 a.m. local time on Thursday.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
