The Energy Transition Will Require Cobalt. America’s Only Mine Can’t Get Off the Ground.
The U.S. is playing catch-up in battery supply chains dominated by China.
Photographer: Natalie Behring
Publisher: The Wall Street Journal
Format: Print, Digital
Date: 2023/07/20
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A skeleton crew maintains the Idaho cobalt mine. Upkeep costs: about $1 million a month. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalThe mine has been decades in the making, surviving market swings, a corporate takeover and a 2000 wildfire that scorched parts of the nearby Salmon-Challis National Forest. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalPhotograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalBefore suspending operations, Jervois planned to load cobalt from the mine into containers, truck them to a rail station, then send the supplies to a port for shipment to a processing plant abroad. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalThe mine sits in the so-called Idaho Cobalt Belt, one of the few areas of the country endowed with the silvery metal. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalJervois spent about $155 million to finish constructing its Idaho facility—almost double what it anticipated. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalExecutive General Manager Matthew Lengerich said he joined Jervois in part because he believes the U.S. needs more domestic mining for the energy transition. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalThe mine will be mostly quiet till the start of a Pentagon-funded drilling project. Jervois expects regulatory approval for that project in August. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street JournalJervois constructed a 102-bed camp where workers could live at the remote locale. Photograph by Natalie Behring for The Wall Street Journal