After spending much of the last two years trending downwards, the cobalt price is up in 2025.
About 75 percent of global cobalt output comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While electric vehicle (EV) demand has remained positive, cobalt oversupply has weighed on markets and hurt efforts to build supply chains outside of the DRC.
However, the country banned exports of cobalt in February in an effort to increase the metal's falling price. By mid-March, cobalt had spiked to US$36,170 per tonne, up more than 65 percent from its record-low price of US$21,550 hit in late January. Heading into the second half of the year, cobalt prices have managed to stay above the US$33,000 level.
Increasing electric vehicle (EV) and lithium-ion battery demand is expected to be supportive for key battery raw materials in the coming years. This means that as demand for EVs increases, so too will demand for cobalt — and, as one of the top four cobalt-producing countries in the world, Australia finds itself in a position to capitalise on this demand.
Though it is only responsible for less than 2 percent of the world’s cobalt production, Australia holds about 15.5 percent of global reserves. Moreover, while the DRC’s labour and mining practices have often been labeled unethical and unsustainable, Australian miners are focused on safer, more environmentally friendly practices.
For investors looking to get exposure to the Australian cobalt market, these ASX cobalt stocks may be a good place to start.
Read on for a look at the biggest cobalt stocks on the ASX by market cap. All market cap and share price data was obtained on July 16, 2025, using TradingView's stock screener.
Market cap: AU$88.37 million
Share price: AU$0.425
Ardea Resources' primary focus is developing its wholly owned Kalgoorlie nickel project, which the company says “hosts the largest nickel-cobalt resource in the developed world.”
Located in Western Australia, the project includes the Goongarrie Hub deposit.
A 2023 prefeasibility study shows that the Goongarrie Hub has an ore reserve of 194.1 million tonnes at 0.05 percent cobalt and 0.7 percent nickel, resulting in 99,000 tonnes of contained cobalt and 1.36 million tonnes of contained nickel.
The study indicates that this resource would support an open-pit mining operation with a 40 year mine life and annual output of 2,000 tonnes of cobalt and 30,000 tonnes of nickel.
Ardea is now working on a definitive feasibility study (DFS) with funding from its strategic partners, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. (TSE:5713) and Mitsubishi (TSE:8058).
The DFS is slated for completion in the second half of 2025.
2. Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX:COB)
Market cap: AU$24.91 million
Share price: AU$0.054
Cobalt Blue Holdings focuses solely on cobalt and is enthusiastic about the metal’s ethical and environmental potential within the renewable energy market. The company owns the New South Wales-based Broken Hill project, a cobalt asset that it says adheres to Australian labour and sustainability standards. It is also planning the Kwinana cobalt refinery.
In November 2023, Cobalt Blue released the results of its cobalt-nickel refinery study. During Stage 1, the proposed refinery will process third-party feedstock and will have a capacity of 3,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate per year, along with 1,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate annually. Stage 2 will have the option to include potential feedstock from Broken Hill. The study projects stable margins throughout potential cobalt price fluctuations.
The Australian Government granted a three-year extension to the project's Major Project status in July 2025.
The company's potential partner for the refinery is Iwatani (TSE:8088), a battery minerals trader. According to Cobalt Blue, if everything goes through as planned, the refinery will be constructed on Iwatani's property in Western Australia's Kwinana industrial area.
Cobalt Blue provided an update on the refinery in late March 2025, reporting that 80 percent of the detailed plant engineering is completed and the refinery is advancing through the final stages to support a final investment decision. The two companies executed a pre-final investment decision consortium deed on April 11, and stated a decision is expected by December 31.
In May, Cobalt Blue inked a deal with Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF,OTC:GLCNF) in which Glencore will supply cobalt hydroxide feedstock to the Kwinana cobalt refinery from its operations in the DRC. The three-year contract is for a minimum of 3,750 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide, which is half of the refinery's initial requirements, and comes into affect when Kwinana begins commercial production.
Market cap: AU$20.46 million
Share price: AU$0.086
Coda Minerals is advancing its Elizabeth Creek copper-cobalt-silver project located in the Olympic Copper Province of South Australia.
Coda completed an updated scoping study on the project in December 2024, which demonstrated robust economics with a 16 year mine life and the potential for annual production of about 26,700 tonnes of copper and 1,300 tonnes of cobalt at steady state production levels.
The mine plan includes three open-pit mines, one underground mine and a hydrometallurgical processing plant. During Phase 1 of planned production, Coda is looking to produce copper-cobalt concentrate over a one year period to generate cash-flow.
Once in Phase 2, the hydrometallurgical plant is intended to produce higher value saleable end-products such as copper cathode and battery-grade cobalt sulphate.
In July 2025, Coda announced the submission of the draft scoping report on the Elizabeth Creek project to the South Australian Department of Energy and Mining, which the company said represents a significant step in the path to obtaining a Mining Lease.
Market cap: AU$8 million
Share price: AU$0.094
Norway-focused Kuniko is targeting three metals key for the EV industry: cobalt, nickel and copper.
The majority of its assets are in Norway, including its Skuterud cobalt project, Undal-Nyberget copper project and Ringerike battery metals project. Ringerike hosts the past-producing Ertelien nickel-copper-cobalt target.
In 2023, Kuniko received an investment of AU$7.8 million by Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), which acquired a 19.99 percent interest in Kuniko and secured a 35 percent offtake for future production of nickel and cobalt sulphate from Kuniko's Norwegian projects for nine years.
Kuniko undertook a second phase expansion drill program over the summer of 2024 at Ertelien, and released an updated resource estimate for Ertelien in December that included the results from that program.
The new resource totals 40 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.25 percent nickel equivalent, made up of 22 million tonnes of indicated resources at 0.26 percent nickel equivalent and 18 million tonnes of inferred resources at 0.25 percent.
Overall, the deposit contains 5,600 tonnes of cobalt, 71,000 tonnes of nickel and 49,000 tonnes of copper.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, currently hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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