It’s also on LinkedIn with the full transcript available.
KoBold Metals CEO Kurt House spoke with BBC World Service about the company’s planned investments in the DRC. 🎧 Listen now:
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Transcript
Cobalt Metals are US based tech driven mineral exploration company backed by prominent investors such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is moving to acquire a VZ Minerals interest in the Manono Lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The site is considered one of the world's largest underdeveloped Hard Rock lithium deposits, a critical asset as the world races to secure raw materials for the energy transition. The announcement comes as the DRC is seeking to diversify its mining partnerships and has reportedly proposed a minerals for security deal with the US, aiming to shift its alliances away from a China dominated sector. Joining us now to discuss these furthermore is Kurt House, co-founder and CEO of Cobalt Metals, joining us from San Francisco. Good evening to you and welcome to the program. What made the Manono Lithium project attractive to cobalt? Metals. It's fabulous to be here and we are very excited to become one of the the largest American investor in the Democratic Republic of Congo, hopefully soon. We're very excited about the Manono deposit because it's very high grade lithium, meaning there's a large, very high concentration of lithium in the rock relative to typical, typical deposits. And more importantly, we think, we think the whole region is perspective for, for, for new discoveries that are, that are not yet known. When we talk about lithium for the layman and woman on the streets, tell us what do you get from that rock? What can you produce that the world needs? Ah, great question. So I'm currently talking on my my iPhone and a lot of people on are probably listening to this on their own device, laptop or or smartphone that will be powered by a lithium ion battery. So lithium is lithium is. Basically half of the battery, the other half is made U of nickel and cobalt. Also if you happen to be driving an electric car then it is certainly the case that the battery is made-up about half. Half of the half of the reactants and the battery are made of lithium. Lithium is is very special element because it's very light. The only elements lighter than lithium or hydrogen and helium. But lithium is a metal so it's the lightest. Metal in the universe and it also it packs a huge amount of energy relative to its relative to its. Math And that's how that's why we use it in batteries. We get so much energy. We can store so much energy in lithium ion batteries per unit mass because lithium is so light and contains so much energy. How's the work already started with the extraction? No, no, it will. Uh, we're still finalizing the details of the agreement with, with the commercial counterparty and with the government. But we are moving with all deliberate speed to develop this deposit fast. We'll be on the ground fast once the, once the, the ink dries on the contracts. And we're already, we're already building our team. So recently we announced the hiring of our, of our director. General for Cobalt Metals DRC, a fellow named Benjamin Kabuka, who is effectively the CEO, the CEO of the country for cobalt and he's, he's Congolese and he will build a large Congolese workforce that will mostly do this work. That's how we we operate every in the world, everywhere in the world by focusing very heavily on on investing in the local talent. You've talked about the benefits that the rest of the world can see or can have. Once you have this extracted, what benefits could the people of the DRC in the region get from you extracting you coming in into their area? Yeah, we're really excited about the DRC because we think we think the central Africa in general, in the DRC in particular is in the early days of a new renaissance. I mean in, in, in 50 years time, it's expected that one out of three humans on Earth will live in sub-Saharan Africa. This will be will be kind of the central the, the, the center of humanity and. The benefits, the direct benefits of an American investment, a major American investment in Congo we think are manifold. Most most saliently will be the the the very high paying jobs directly, directly. Directly related to the mind development and all the skills. Bills that will. A transfer to the local to the local staff. Cobalt has technology, cutting edge technology to understand, understand the subsurface and the rocks in the most statistically rigorous ways that anyone's ever, ever conceived and will be training a large Congolese workforce in cutting edge data science and artificial intelligence so they can deploy this technology and invent. As well as in, uh, improve it and invent new versions of it. Alright, Courthouse, thank you so much for your time. Co-founder and CEO of Cobalt Metals.