What is Coltan |
What is Cobalt |
Coltan is short for Columbite-tantalite - a black tar-like mineral found in major quantities in the Congo. The Congo possesses 80 percent of the world's coltan. When coltan is refined it becomes a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electric charge. Coltan is a vital element in creating devices that store energy or capacitors, which are used in a vast array of small electronic devices, especially in cell phones, laptops, computers, tablets, and other electronic devices.
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Cobalt is a bluish-gray, shiny, brittle metallic mineral. The Congo accounts for at least 60 percent of worldwide cobalt production and has about 50 percent of known global cobalt reserves. Cobalt is a vital element in creating batteries for cell phones, laptops, computers, gaming consoles, and other electronic devices. Cobalt provides a stability and high energy density that allows batteries to operate safely and for longer periods.
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Foreign Corporate Exploitation
Foreign multi-national corporations have been deeply involved in the exploitation of coltan and cobalt in the Congo. The coltan and cobalt mined by rebels and foreign forces is sold to foreign corporations. Although U.N. reports on the Congo do not directly blame multi-national corporations like Samsung and Apple for the violent conflicts in the Congo, the United Nations does state these companies serve as "the engine of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
"Weak governmental institutions are incapable of enforcing property rights or contracts. Production of coltan is carried out by low-paid artisanal and small-scale miners in isolated mines. Trade involves multiple parties, transportation in the initial stages from the mine to traders over land-based routes, and exchange occurs in the absence of written contracts. The control of different mining functions by specific ethnic groups has created tensions that have fueled local-level violence, as well as the larger regional conflict that engulfed eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Congo Wars [and this] is because ethnicity is directly linked to economic interests related to land and minerals. These features facilitate entry and participation in the coltan supply chain by armed groups because production and trade can be easily controlled through violence."
Australian Author Michael Nest, excerpt from the book The Coltan, 2011
Australian Author Michael Nest, excerpt from the book The Coltan, 2011
Mining And Gorillas
Congo’s Basin rainforest is one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems-ranking seventh in world’s top 10 countries with highest deforestation rates. In the Congo, war lords often hire illegal lumberers to conduct forestry operations, which involves clearing vegetation and cutting down trees to search for future mines. Sadly, once the mining operations begins, it is extremely difficult to restore the areas back to normal due to water contamination (workers digging in streams and lakes causes cross-water contamination between ground water and surface water), thus resulting in soil erosion as well. Once soil erosion occurs, the land is rendered useless. In many instances, after the clearing of forests, the trees are rarely sold or used by the rebels-often the wood from these trees are left to rot. Approximately 3,000 trees are cut down each day, with an annual rate of nearly 440,000 a year. Making matters worse, hundreds of animals’ habits are destroyed in the process.
"The main area where Coltan is mined, also contains the Kahuzi Biega National Park, home of the Mountain Gorilla. In Kahuzi Biega National Park the gorilla population has been cut nearly in half as the rainforest is cleared to make mining easier. Not only has this reduced the available food for the gorillas, the poverty caused by the displacement of the local populations by mining has lead to gorillas being killed and their meat being sold as "bush meat" to the miners and rebel armies that control the area. Within the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a whole, the U.N. Environment Program has reported that the number of eastern lowland gorillas in eight Democratic Republic of the Congo national parks has declined by 90% over the past 5 years, and only 3,000 now remain."
WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
WWF (World Wildlife Fund)