Producer
GEM Co., Ltd.
GEM Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, Guangdong; SZSE: 002340; ~¥30B revenue) is China's second-largest cobalt sulfate producer and the world's leading 'urban mining' cobalt recovery company — extracting cobalt from recycled lithium-ion batteries, spent catalysts, and cobalt-bearing electronic waste. GEM's cobalt sulfate production comes from two sources: (1) primary production from DRC cobalt hydroxide feedstock at its Jingmen, Hubei facilities; and (2) secondary production from battery recycling at multiple Chinese facilities. GEM's 'urban mining' model means its cobalt sulfate supply is partially insulated from DRC mining disruptions — it can recover cobalt from recycled EV batteries. GEM is a major supplier to Samsung SDI and SK On (South Korean battery makers) with whom it has direct offtake contracts. GEM also produces nickel sulfate, manganese sulfate, and cathode precursor materials (PCAM), making it a one-stop cobalt/nickel chemicals supplier for Korean and Japanese battery manufacturers.
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Cobalt Sulfate Refining (Primary)
30%Urban Mining & Battery Recycling
35%NMC Precursor (pCAM)
22%Spent Catalyst Recovery (Tungsten/Cobalt)
13%
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Did you know2024
GEM's spent catalyst recovery business processes tungsten from petroleum refining catalysts (hydrodesulfurization catalysts used in oil refineries become spent after several years and contain recoverable cobalt and tungsten). GEM therefore simultaneously extracts critical minerals from three entirely separate waste streams: (1) spent EV batteries (battery supply chain circularity), (2) petroleum refining catalysts (oil industry waste management), and (3) electronic scrap (e-waste). The same Chinese urban mining company is embedded in the circular economy of EV battery manufacture, petroleum refining, AND consumer electronics disposal — three industries that never intersect in conventional supply chain analysis but share GEM as a common materials recycler.
GEM Co Ltd ↗Origin2023
GEM Co., Ltd. was founded in 2000 in Shenzhen by Xu Kaihua, initially focused on e-waste recycling and metals recovery during China's early push for formal electronic waste processing. GEM grew by investing in "urban mining" — the systematic recovery of valuable metals from end-of-life products — before the term was commonly used. As China's EV industry scaled, GEM positioned itself at both ends of the battery supply chain: sourcing virgin cobalt from DRC (through Glencore offtake agreements) for current production, and building battery recycling capacity to harvest cobalt from the growing stock of spent EV batteries for future supply.
GEM Co Ltd ↗