Click on the blue article title to read full story.
Cobalt & Bismuth
The Financial Post • June 22, 2026 • 10:03 AM
Cobalt Users Warn EU Health Rules Threaten Minerals Supply Push

Some of the European Union’s top cobalt users warn that planned rules to protect workers’ health will instead threaten the bloc’s push to bolster its mineral supply chains and industries like energy and defense…The European Commission will on Tuesday decide whether to approve legislation to reduce workers’ exposure to cobalt dust and particles to safeguard against cancers and other respiratory illnesses. But companies involved in the supply chain say the proposed limits are too strict, costly and challenging to meet, and risk closing businesses and diverting investments away from the EU…Cobalt is a key metal in electric-vehicle batteries, and is also used in space and defense applications, construction tools, magnets and even animal feed as a vitamin source. The planned health rules come as the EU in 2024 adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act to secure supplies of such metals and reduce dependence on China, which dominates processing…“The risk is creating a self-defeating mechanism, reducing Europe’s own recycling, refining and processing capacity, while continuing to rely on imported cobalt produced under higher exposure limits elsewhere in the world,” said Mike Blakeney, head of government and public affairs at the Cobalt Institute, an industry group…“On the one hand they are trying to support the industry, on the other hand they make sure that you cannot operate any more competitively,” Chief Executive Officer Hady Seyeda said. “The level of safety we have is best in class globally, and to increase that further doesn’t help anybody, because the money and the production will go to areas where it’s less safe.”…The proposed rules will limit workers’ inhalable exposure of cobalt from 20 micrograms per cubic meter to 10 micrograms after a six-year transition period. Similar regulations in China allow 50 micrograms, while US federal law permits 100 micrograms. 
 
Reuters • June 21, 2026 • 10:13 PM
A Chinese flag flutters at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce building in Beijing, China June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Florence Lo Purchase Licensing ...

China added MP Materials  and USA Rare Earth as well as eight other ​U.S. entities it said are linked to the U.S. military to its export ‌control list in retaliation for Washington placing several Chinese companies under restrictions this month…Pentagon-backed ​MP Materials, which operates the only active rare earth mine in the U.S., and ​USA Rare Earth are both involved in the mine-to-magnet supply chain…The measures are a response to the "U.S. government's malicious ​practice" and were taken to safeguard national security and interests, as well as to fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Monday…"Organisations and individuals in any country or region are ​prohibited from transferring or supplying dual-use items originating in China to those entities," it said, ​adding that export activities should be stopped immediately…Analysts said, however, that China's actions were a largely symbolic response to the Pentagon's 1260H list of Chinese tech companies it believes to be aiding the Chinese military.
For further information about the NICO Project and its Mineral Reserves, please refer to the Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for NICO, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon, which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. DISCLAIMER Fortune Minerals Limited does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any third party publication regarding the Company and accepts no liability for any direct or consequential losses arising from its use. The information contained in third party publications is subject to verification by the user and Fortune is under no obligation to provide, or comment upon, such publications. This communication is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities. Any decision to invest in securities in the secondary market or otherwise should only be made after consulting the investor’s own investment, legal, accounting and tax advisors in order to make an informed determination of the suitability and consequences of such investment. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION The materials appearing in this email contain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management’s expectations with respect to, among other things, the size and quality of the Company’s mineral resources, progress in permitting and development of mineral properties, timing and cost for placing the Company’s mineral projects into production, costs of production, amount and quality of metal products recoverable from the Company’s mineral resources, anticipated revenues, earnings and cash flows from the Company's mineral projects, demand and market outlook for metals and coal and future metal and coal prices. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits and regulatory approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal and coal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the possibility that production from the Company's mineral projects may be less than anticipated, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, uncertainties related to metal recoveries and other factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted into mineral reserves. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update them or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.
© 2025 Meltwater. All Rights Reserved.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter Click Here