106 - The International Resource Journal

50 MINERALS Cobalt Development Institutecobalt casting alloysCobalt is not the most visible of metals, butits importance is growing every day. Not onlyis it used in rechargeable batteries, aerospaceengines and prosthetic limb joints, but it is alsohighly recyclable and essential to processes andproducts that boost resource and energy efficiencyand reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Asthe world at large becomes increasingly drivenby high technology and concepts of sustainability,it’s no surprise that demand for cobalt, or itscompound annual growth rate (CAGR), is increasingby more than 5% per annum. In turn, theCobalt Development Institute (CDI) – a non-profittrade association representing the cobalt industry– may find it has more work on its hands.An active advocatorThe CDI began at the Cobalt Information Centrein Belgium, in association with the companiesGecamines and Union Miniere, in 1957. It wasreformed in the early 1980s with the involvementof industry players such as ZCCM, Gecamines,Inco, Falconbridge, Mooney Chemicals and UnionMiniere, and became a fully UK incorporated