Hard to say cause, nobody outside of the DRC directly mines...

Hard to say cause, nobody outside of the DRC directly mines cobalt who uses child miners and such methods, it's generally just a by product or it has copper/gold associated with it that makes it economical.

Going through feasibility of a few projects trying to currently get into production, the best figures I have seen are .55% co has a production cost of $13.26/lb, from 90% recoveries.

So thats about break even, then the project makes it's money of the gold/copper credits.

That doesn't account for depth though, obviously break even under ground is going to be economic at surface, so it you were seeing .55% co near surface similar recoveries, that would work, but not too much lower or your just gambling on cobalt prices rising.

Tonnage is also a consideration the bigger the project the cheaper production will be, as is the location near a major transportation hub and electric grid is obviously cheaper than in the middle of a desert or on top of a mountain, so consider those things as well.