Cobalt Reserves by Country

Russia's reported cobalt reserves sat at 250,000 metric tons for seven straight years, then jumped to 800,000 in 2025. Figures are drawn from eight editions of the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (2019-2026) and cover estimated quantities that can be economically extracted. 14 countries appear in the table; 12 have reported 2025 values, and the listed 2025 total stands at 10,745,000 metric tons. USGS puts the rounded world total at 12,000,000 metric tons.

DR Congo holds 6,000,000 metric tons — about three-and-a-half times Australia's 1,700,000. Russia (800,000), Indonesia (760,000) and Cuba (500,000) follow, each below one-seventh of the leader. USGS also reports 780,000 metric tons under “Other countries,” but does not assign that amount to individual countries.

Cobalt Reserves by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (metric tons)	Year
1	DR Congo CD	6,000,000	2025
2	Australia AU	1,700,000	2025
3	Russia RU	800,000	2025
4	Indonesia ID	760,000	2025
5	Cuba CU	500,000	2025
6	Philippines PH	260,000	2025
7	Canada CA	220,000	2025
8	China CN	160,000	2025
9	Madagascar MG	100,000	2025
10	Türkiye TR	91,000	2025
11	Papua New Guinea PG	84,000	2025
12	United States US	70,000	2025
13	South Africa ZA	40,000	2020
14	Morocco MA	13,000	2022

DR Congo's 6,000,000 exceeds the next three combined.

Russia's 2025 surge

Russia reported 250,000 metric tons in every year from 2018 through 2024, then 800,000 for 2025 — an increase of 550,000 (+220.0%), the largest absolute and percentage gain in the table that year. The jump moved Russia from sixth to third, pushing Indonesia, Cuba and the Philippines each down one place.

Indonesia added 120,000 (+18.8%) and Papua New Guinea 22,000 (+35.5%) in the same year; eight of the twelve reported values did not move at all.

The 2023 jump that built the majority

DR Congo reported between 3,400,000 and 4,000,000 metric tons through 2022, then reached 6,000,000 in 2023 — a 2,000,000 increase (+50.0%) that created the current majority in a single step. The figure has held at 6,000,000 ever since, while second-ranked Australia climbed gradually from 1,200,000 to 1,700,000 across the full span.

Missing reporters and steady ones

South Africa (40,000 in 2020) and Morocco (13,000 in 2022) have no reported value after those years. China shows the opposite pattern, reappearing at 160,000 metric tons in 2025 after two empty years. Against that churn, Cuba has reported 500,000 metric tons throughout the eight-year series — stability at fifth place while the countries around it come and go.

Cobalt Reserves by Country

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#	Country	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	DR Congo	3,400,000	3,600,000	3,600,000	3,500,000	4,000,000	6,000,000	6,000,000	6,000,000
2	Australia	1,200,000	1,200,000	1,400,000	1,400,000	1,500,000	1,700,000	1,700,000	1,700,000
3	Indonesia	-	-	-	600,000	600,000	500,000	640,000	760,000
4	Cuba	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000
5	Philippines	280,000	260,000	260,000	260,000	260,000	260,000	260,000	260,000
6	Russia	250,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	800,000
7	Canada	250,000	230,000	220,000	220,000	220,000	230,000	220,000	220,000
8	Madagascar	140,000	120,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000
9	China	80,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	140,000	-	-	160,000
10	Papua New Guinea	56,000	56,000	51,000	47,000	47,000	49,000	62,000	84,000
11	United States	38,000	55,000	53,000	69,000	69,000	69,000	70,000	70,000
12	Türkiye	-	-	-	-	36,000	91,000	91,000	91,000
13	South Africa	24,000	50,000	40,000	-	-	-	-	-
14	Morocco	17,000	18,000	14,000	13,000	13,000	-	-	-

Methodology

Figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026, with 2025 values estimated. Units are metric tons, as reported by USGS. Empty means the source reported no value; 0 means the source reports zero. The source’s world total, where published, may be rounded, approximate, a lower bound, or a textual estimate, so shares are computed against the sum of the listed countries. Reserves and production are different measures and should not be combined without equalizing units.