DEEP BLUE

Used since ancient times for its pigment, cobalt is now an essential ingredient in aircraft manufacture. But how ethical is the process of mining this precious metal?

WORDS DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Cobalt is one of those magic ingredients that we may not often think about, but use every day. It is found in the rechargeable batteries needed to power everything from iPhones to electric cars, but it is also used in superalloys, which are valuable because of their resistance to high temperature and corrosion. Cobalt, therefore, finds its way into aircraft engines. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the principal supplier. In 2017, around 67 per cent of the world’s cobalt was mined there, according to Darton Commodities. Many of the mines are unmechanised, so work is done by hand – and those hands can be children’s. So it’s worth asking where the cobalt used in engines comes from. Aircraft makers, it seems, are not the right people to ask. Boeing did…

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Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Edition (Digital) - 1 Issue, January - February 2019

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