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UPSC Prelims 2023 · World Geography · Countries, Rivers and Resources
About three-fourths of world’s cobalt, a metal required for the manufacture of batteries for electric motor vehicles, is produced by
- (a) Argentina
- (b) Botswana
- (c) The Democratic Republic of the Congo
- (d) Kazakhstan
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The DRC’s Copperbelt (Katanga) mines about three-quarters of the world’s cobalt, as a by-product of copper.
The idea
Each battery metal has one dominant source: cobalt — DR Congo · lithium — Australia and the Chile–Argentina–Bolivia triangle · nickel — Indonesia · graphite — China.
Why the others are wrong
(a) Argentina is a lithium giant (the “lithium triangle”), not cobalt.
(b) Botswana is famous for diamonds.
(d) Kazakhstan leads in uranium.
The trap
Argentina tempts because EV batteries mean “lithium” in most minds. The question is about cobalt.
🔒 Cobalt = DR Congo (~75%). Lithium = Australia + the South American triangle. Uranium = Kazakhstan. Diamonds = Botswana (value), Russia (volume).
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