2021 Cobalt Institute Annual Conference

Joseph Ikoli is the Secretary General of Mines & President of Cistema in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ying joined Roskill in 2018 and focuses on cobalt and nickel research.

Ying has been instrumental to Roskill’s analysis for these markets and is the lead author of Roskill’s annual cobalt and nickel sulphate reports.

Ying graduated from Cass Business School, London, with a MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance. In her distinction-awarded thesis, Ying explored cobalt supply risk and its impacts on the EV battery industry. Prior to joining Roskill, Ying worked for a leading cobalt refinery based in China, where she was responsible for procurement and business strategy. Ying’s commercial exposure to cobalt and nickel raw materials has translated into industry knowledge as well as business acumen to identify trends in these markets. Ying is a regular speaker at international conferences, presenting Roskill’s independent research on battery raw materials.

Caspar is Head of Price Assessments at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

David Brocas is Chair of the Cobalt Institute’s Executive Committee and Head Cobalt Trader at Glencore.

Ms. Xu Aidong, principal analyst of Antaike, Secretary General of CNIA Cobalt Branch, Expert of China Development Bank, graduated from the University of Science and Technology Beijing with a masters degree in 1993 and then started her career at Antaike until now. She has been engaged in the work of nonferrous metal products quotations, market forecast & information consulting, enterprises and industry development strategy research. From 1999 she has been responsible for the organizing of China International Nickel and Cobalt Conference and other large scale conferences. Ms. Xu took part in some research projects such as Thinking of China Nickel and Cobalt Industry Development in 2000. The research project of Technical Guidance to Nd-Fe -B Permanent Magnetic Materials and Lamp-use Rare Earth Triphosphor Fluorescent Powder Export was rewarded with the third prize of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Sciences and Technology Advance. Ms. Xu has published research papers on international conferences organized by International Nickel Study Group and Cobalt Development Organization, on USA-China Nickel Outlook Conference, and on Nonferrous metals professional journals.

Gregor works in metals research and product development at CME Group. He has been at CME Group since 2015, covering a wide range of product launches and initiatives. Prior to CME Group, Gregor worked at Commerzbank London in commodity derivatives structuring and at EDF Energy in power markets.

Harry joined CRU Consulting in 2015 and has worked on a variety of commodity types, including: steel, iron ore, coal, base and battery metals. Harry relocated to Sydney from London in 2018 and is now in charge of non-ferrous consulting in Australia and leads projects across APAC.

Harry has a background in geology and mining and manages projects across commodity groups in CRU Consulting, involving strategic advice, market due diligence, analysis and primary research. He has broad international experience in supporting our clients with their business needs. His recent work includes: lithium chemical cost modelling for the due diligence of a hydroxide processing project; South American market assessment of Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS); Real Options analysis of a major copper development project; investment strategy advice; detailed & novel analysis of the graphite electrode market; and legal pricing dispute resolution for major iron ore producers.

Prior to joining CRU, he completed internships as a Minerals Processing Researcher at the University of Cape Town and as an Exploration Geologist with Rio Tinto on a greenfield copper exploration project in Namibia.

During his time at CRU, Harry has worked at CRU’s London, Sydney, Santiago and Beijing offices to develop his knowledge of the regional commodity markets. Harry is now based full time in our Sydney office.

Harry graduated from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London with an MSci in Geology.

Trent holds an EMBA from the Kellogg School of Management and Schulich School of Business, a LL.M from Osgoode Hall as well as a B.A., B.C.L. and LL.B. from McGill University.

He is CEO of TDI Sustainability, an advisory firm to Fortune 100 companies in Europe and the USA, and to natural resource companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is the founder and board chair of the Impact Facility for Sustainable Mining Communities, an impact investment vehicle with a mission to empower rural communities through the building of viable responsible small and medium sized enterprises and artisanal mining operations in Africa and Central and South America.

Assheton has launched and led a number of ground-breaking initiatives with international corporations, and structured numerous innovative sustainable supply chains, including the first fully traceable gold and diamond jewellery for the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart and developed the only tracking system for “conflict-free” metals from the DRC used by electronics manufacturers in Europe and the United States, and the Fair Cobalt Alliance.

He has published over 20 book chapters and articles and holds a Ph. D from the Business School of the University of Bath in the management or risk and in international gold and luxury supply chains.

Jean-Dominique Takis is the CEO of the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Luc Lenge Asosa is an expert in ASM and Director of Pact’s Programmes in the DRC. Originally a university teacher/researcher, he has now worked in the development world for over 18 years. He has extensive experience as a project manager and has acquired over the years very specific skills in starting and managing projects in very complex contexts. Through fieldwork, he has developed particular skills in institutional and organisational capacity building of actors in the artisanal mining sector (state institutions, mining cooperatives, etc.). He has managed several projects and taken an active part in the implementation of several projects related to governance, conflict resolution, mineral traceability and Due Diligence in mineral supply chains from conflict or high-risk areas, taxation related to the ASM sector, socio-economic reintegration of artisanal miners, especially women, the fight against child labour in the mines, etc. He has participated and/or coordinated several surveys and research in collaboration with other organisations and agencies such as the World Bank, the UN/ILO, the University of Lubumbashi and its School of Criminology, CASM/World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), local NGOs and state institutions. He has worked on several social development and capacity building programmes for local communities (rural but also around and in the mining areas), state institutions (former SAESSCAM now SAEMAPE) or local organisations (local NGOs/Civil Society, Cooperatives). He has held several positions as project manager in Katanga, South Kivu, Maniema and Kinshasa in DRC. He has also assisted, trained and shared experiences with Pact teams in other countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, Thailand, Zimbabwe, USA etc. in the framework of the Mines to Market programme. He is very fluent in Swahili, Lingala, French and moderately fluent in English.

Since 2016, he has been very involved in the development of Pact’s activities related to the establishment of responsible cobalt supply chains in the former Greater Katanga (notably in the current Lualaba Province), the promotion of good working conditions in artisanal mining, including hygiene, health and safety issues, the promotion of socio-economic reintegration alternatives for vulnerable households, and advocacy for the creation of viable artisanal mining zones

Trafigura is one of the leading physical commodity trading groups in the world, with revenues of USD147 billion in 2020.

Responsible for driving Trafigura’s responsibility and stakeholder engagement agenda worldwide, James’ focus has included developing the company’s leadership position on transparency and responsible sourcing.

In 2014, Trafigura became the first independent commodity trading company to publicly support the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and go on to disclose its substantial payments to governments in EITI implementing countries. The standard set by Trafigura latterly formed the basis of an industry reporting norm. In 2019, James was appointed to the International Board of the EITI.

James leads Trafigura’s efforts in pursuit of the responsible sourcing and supply of metals and minerals. Of note in this respect has been James’ initiation and oversight of the ‘Mutoshi Pilot Project’ – a leading effort by government authorities, Trafigura and the NGO ‘Pact’ to support the responsible sourcing of cobalt from semi-mechanised mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Prior to Trafigura, James worked at the De Beers Group for over 9 years.

Jared personally led on-the-ground audits of more than 75 smelters as part of Intel’s industry-leading conflict minerals program and is the co-creator of the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template.

Joaquim has studied law and worked as a lawyer both in Lisbon and in Brussels, from 1989 to 1994, dealing mainly with anti-trust law as well as commercial and civil law.

She has a Degree in Chemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece as well as an MSc in Energy Law, Business, Regulation and Policy from the International University of Greece.

An Austrian national, Alina is based in Brussels and married with two children.

Jared personally led on-the-ground audits of more than 75 smelters as part of Intel’s industry-leading conflict minerals program and is the co-creator of the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template.

As a global mining company which has obtained a first tier MSCI ESG rating, CMOC follows the highest international ESG practices. CMOC is listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges and currently employs approximately 21,000 personnel and contractors globally.

She studied medicine and industrial toxicology at the Catholic University of Louvain and obtained her PhD in Public Health in 2005. She worked as a researcher at the University’s Industrial Toxicology and Occupational Medicine Unit for 8 years before joining Eurometaux in 2005, to manage all scientific activities and projects.

Before joining Northvolt and battery industry she has gathered 20 years of experience from hardmetal industry, oil industry, and the Swedish work environment authority within the areas of chemicals management, product stewardship, regulatory advocacy, and regulatory compliance with several years of focus on cobalt.

She holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Helsinki, Finland, including studies in the University of Wales Swansea, UK, and the University of Turku, Finland. She is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Trent holds an EMBA from the Kellogg School of Management and Schulich School of Business, a LL.M from Osgoode Hall as well as a B.A., B.C.L. and LL.B. from McGill University.

Dr. McKittrick previously managed the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), an Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames Laboratory, as a technology manager within AMO. Dr. McKittrick was a co-author of the 2011 DOE Critical Materials Strategy, which assessed the challenges associated with the use of rare earth elements and other critical materials in clean energy technologies. Prior to joining DOE, he led efforts within the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development to develop extramural research programs on rare earth elements and also managed nanotechnology related grants. Prior to the EPA, Dr. McKittrick was at the University at Buffalo as an assistant professor, focusing on developing energy efficient catalytic materials for pollutant degradation. Dr. McKittrick received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech. He also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University.