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The Bureau of Mines performed a study of the availability of cobalt from market economy countries. The study entailed the detailed analysis of 97 deposits which contain 3.9 billion lb of cobalt at the demonstrated level; in 94 of the deposits cobalt is recovered as a byproduct, and in 3 it is considered the primary product. Since 97 pct of all recoverable cobalt is derived as a byproduct from copper and nickel deposits, the report focused on these two sources. At an assumed market price of $0.89/lb for copper, $3.45/lb for nickel, $475/tr oz for platinum, and $7/lb for cobalt, 1,330 million lb of cobalt at the demonstrated level are potentially available. This total includes 1,105 million lb of cobalt from copper properties, 190 million lb from nickel, 29 million lb from platinum, and 6 million lb from primary cobalt. This analysis indicates that the production cost for 589 million lb of cobalt can be totally covered by the revenuesfrom the other metals producted. The impacts of increases in capital investment and energy costs are also discussed.