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Events/Price shock · 1978

Shaba invasions trigger a cobalt market panic

Price shock, 1977 to 1978, DR Congo.

What happened

Insurgents based in Angola invaded Shaba (Katanga) in 1977 and 1978 and occupied Kolwezi. USGS says this led to a panic in the cobalt market. The USGS director later wrote that guerrilla activity in Shaba made cobalt prices rise precipitously.1,2,3

Why it matters

The shock made Western governments worry about cobalt supply from central Africa and still shapes talk of critical minerals.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Katanga declares its secession from Congo

    The copper-rich province broke away as an unrecognised state (Wikidata date).4

  2. Gecamines established

    Gecamines established.5

  3. Zambia takes 51 percent of the copper mines

    The state became the main owner of the Copperbelt for the next 30 years.6,7,8

  4. Shaba invasions trigger a cobalt market panic

    The shock made Western governments worry about cobalt supply from central Africa and still shapes talk of critical minerals.1,2,3

  5. Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines formed

    ZCCM was the vehicle for state ownership and later for the privatisation of the Copperbelt.7,8

  6. DRC cobalt boom

    USGS finds most artisanal cobalt was processed by Chinese firms in the DRC or exported to China.3,9,10

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Where next

Mines

Located inKamoto Copper Company (KCC) / Katanga Mining ComplexA mine from the same area and mineral story: Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) / Katanga Mining Complex.1

Events

Led toDRC cobalt boomAfter the 1978 panic, DRC cobalt output grew from 11,000 t in 2000 to 98,000 t in 2020.9

Places

Located inKolweziInsurgents occupied Kolwezi in 1977 and 1978, and cobalt prices rose sharply.1

Sources

  1. Investigation of U.S. Foreign Reliance on Critical Minerals, OFR 2020-1127 US Geological Survey
  2. Statement of Charles G. Groat, Director, USGS US Geological Survey
  3. Kolwezi (item Q271404), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q1148907 (State of Katanga)
  5. Wikidata item Q391647 (Gecamines established)
  6. Nationalization and Mining: Lessons from Zambia (abstract) OneMine
  7. About ZCCM-IH (history) ZCCM Investments Holdings
  8. Copperbelt Province (item Q1131523), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and artisanal cobalt mining from 2000 through 2020 (publication page) US Geological Survey
  10. China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and artisanal cobalt mining from 2000 through 2020 PNAS (S. Gulley, via Europe PMC)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Malachite on cobaltocalcite, Musonoi by Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0. Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).