May 99 min read

The Price of Progress: Cobalt Mining and the Countless Victims in the Congo

By Jerome Bragg II

A man displaying freshly earthed Cobalt ore - Photo by Junior Kahhah/AFP via Getty Images

The summer of 2023 was the warmest recorded in human history, intense hurricanes and storms have become more common and wildfires are burning hotter and more often.

In response to this imminent threat, there’s been a push from across the globe for more sustainable energy sources. Electric cars, wind turbines, solar panels, and other ways of reducing our carbon footprint are all becoming more prevalent; however, there remains a hidden cost to these initiatives.

Minerals such as copper and cobalt are essential to the process of reshaping how we power our world. These metals are used to make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power our smartphones, laptops and electric cars. As electric vehicles continue to surge in popularity the demand for cobalt rises as well. If we don’t change the way we acquire these minerals, or find a way to end our reliance on them, we could end up destroying the planet in our attempt to save it.

Two men working inside of a artisanal mine with no protective equipment - Photo by Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second largest country in Africa, and it is blessed with a substantial amount of natural resources, most notably the minerals of copper and cobalt. According to The World Bank, the DRC is responsible for more than 70% of the globe’s cobalt. Despite this, the country is among the five poorest nations in the world, estimating that 74% of Congolese people live on less than $2.15 a day.

15% to 30% of the Cobalt produced in the DRC comes from what are known as "Artisanal” mines. These “Artisanal Mines” are essentially Mom & Pop style operations, where locals dig their own tunnels, often using old pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands in search of cobalt and other fine metals.

Once the metals are collected they are taken to traders known as “negociants”. These negociants buy a bundle of cobalt for a dollar or two, then take it either directly to a formal mining company or to a middleman known as a “buying house” or depot. These depots are usually run by foreign traders who sell the cobalt to formal mining companies by the truckload. This makes it impossible to differentiate what’s industrial and artisanal, tainting the entire supply chain with slave labor.

Richard & Dorsen working in the mines - Photo by Alex Crawford, Sky News

These Artisanal mining operations have been the source of numerous human rights violations, resulting in a frightening amount of death and injury among the people who work there. The mines often collapse, and stories of people getting crushed, or lost inside have become a normality. Workers don’t have the proper tools or training to do their job safely, digging without hard hats, vests or even shoes. Reporters say the sight of young men and children with missing or broken limbs is common. Everyone is aware of the danger, but they are forced to mine regardless.

“When I wake up I feel terrible knowing that I have to come back here again. Everything hurts.” - Dorsen

Child labor is a huge problem in these mines. The cost of school isn’t covered by the government of the DRC so many parents are forced to decide whether they want to eat or if they want their child to go to school.

In 2018, CBS News reported on the story of Ziki Swaze, an 11-year-old boy who was forced to quit school and go work in the mines to support his family. With both of his parents gone, Ziki had no choice but to work in order to provide for his grandmother and three siblings. Rather than learning how to read and write, he has to work in grueling, dangerous conditions for just one or two dollars a day.

When he was interviewed by CBS, Ziki expressed the sadness he felt watching other kids going to school while he had work. When reporters asked what he thinks about before he goes to bed at night, his response was simply “school”.

An investigation done by Sky News in 2017 revealed just how brutal working in the mines can be. The report focuses on two workers, named Richard and Dorsen. They are both shown wearing no shoes, hauling huge bags of dirt back and forth in the pouring rain.

At one point, Dorsen makes a mistake and drops his bag. A man approaches Dorsen and threatens to beat him if it happens again. At the end of their 12-hour day of punishing work, they are paid the equivalent of 1 US dollar each.

Richard and Dorsen are just 11 and 8 years old. When Sky News returned to the village they were able to meet the boy’s father. He was digging a 20-foot tunnel of his own, desperate to find anything of value.

“We have to find minerals. If I found lots I could send him to school but we never have any money.” - We’re condemned because we can’t send our children to study.” Father of Dorsen and Richard, Sky News 2017

These stories are all too common. In 2023 The U.S. Department of Labor estimated that at least 25,000 children were working in cobalt mines throughout the DRC.

The Environmental Impact

Photo Courtesy of Adobe Stock

Residents are dependent on these mines for income, large mining corporations have bulldozed entire villages, leaving the native people with no other options. Not to mention the presence of Militia groups, who rely on the minerals for funding are known for pressuring people into working in the mines.

These mining operations make life hazardous for the people who live in these so-called “mining towns”. Companies have built huge processing facilities with no regard for the way it affects the area and people surrounding it. Toxic chemicals are pumped into the water and a thick haze constantly fills the air. In the U.S there are laws and regulations that force companies to process these metals in a less damaging way; however, no such regulations are enforced in the Congo.

The large amount of waste has a corrosive effect on the land. Fish collected from Tshangalale Lake, which is adjacent to several mining towns, has been found to be contaminated with numerous toxic substances including uranium, manganese and of course, cobalt. This then spreads to the people and has been linked to increased risks of birth defects along with many other health risks.

Despite these companies raking in billions of dollars in profit every year, people are forced to live in toxic conditions, slowly being poisoned to death.

“The public health catastrophe, on top of the human rights violence, on top of the environmental destruction is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the modern context” - Siddharth Kara, author of “Cobalt Red” 2023

Apple, Tesla and other large tech companies rely on cobalt in order to make their products, and as such have a responsibility to ensure the materials used are sourced ethically. Apple and Tesla have both announced ways to limit their use of Cobalt.

Apple, in a press release from April 2023 stated that the company plans on using 100% recycled cobalt by 2025. Tesla has begun using lithium iron phosphate, or LFP batteries in most of its standard-range vehicles. In the first quarter of 2022, nearly 50% of the vehicles were produced with cobalt-free batteries. These are encouraging first steps but more needs to be done.

Glencore, the number one mining company in the world, was forced to pay $1.1 billion in fines after pleading guilty to bribery, corruption, and market manipulation. Alongside the corruption, the company also has a long record of human rights violations. 2023 marks the second year in a row Glencore was listed as the number one offender of human rights abuses according to the nonprofit Business & Human Resource Centre.

The company comes in first place when it comes to human rights violations in Africa, and they settled for a podium finish in South America ranking 3rd. They have been accused of being complicit in child labor, environmental pollution, forced relocation, hazardous working conditions and attacks on human rights defenders. If you go to their website you’ll find a page where they pledge to take measures to mitigate the harms that are caused by their mining but, their words fall on deaf ears.

“Even with these credible allegations of child labor, Glencore and the U.S. companies it supplies have not been held accountable because the current law is insufficient to address these abuses.” - “To get accountability for these human rights abuses, there needs to be a law in the U.S. that holds companies accountable for the human rights abuses that occur within their supply chains.” - Caroline Dumoulin, ICAR 2022

Tech companies have taken over the world, 3 of the 4 most valuable companies in the world are tech-based (Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia). Clearly, there is a huge demand for the products made by these companies but too many people are unaware of the horrible conditions people are put into to make these products, allowing them to continue making billions of dollars every year off of the backs of children.

“Only 17.4 percent of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled. This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum, and other high-value, recoverable materials conservatively valued at US $57 billion — a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries — were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.” - United Nations University 2020

Photo Courtesy of Adobe Stock

Where Do We Go From Here?

The creation and implementation of new legislation is a painfully slow process; however, there are ways that we can help right now.

There are steps we can take on our own to help reduce our dependence on cobalt. Recycling our electronics, or E-waste is an easy first step. According to the UN, a record high of 53 million tons of E-waste (discarded products with a battery or electrical plug) was generated in 2019 alone. Recycling these products allows the metals and other valuable materials to be used again, rather than sitting in landfills for centuries. The materials contained in these devices are often hazardous.

Local recycling facilities are exposed to a greater risk of fires and explosions caused by shredding the batteries inside of electronics. Don’t just leave those old phones and other electronics lying around, collecting dust, instead, take them to a local E-waste disposal facility. You’ll get a little change for your effort and you’ll be helping to make the planet a little more sustainable.

“The question we must ask ourselves is whether the harm done by the extraction [of] these metals—and indeed the fossil fuels expended in their mining, transport, processing and so on—does not outweigh the benefit. Is the juice worth the squeeze?” - Nicolas Niarchos - 2023

The Good Shepherd International Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has been working to improve the lives of women and children living in vulnerable conditions since 2008. As of today, they have over 2,500 members and their programs support the victims of human rights violations in 68 countries across the globe.

“Children Not Miners', their mission in the DRC, is responsible for getting over 4,500 children, including Ziki and his siblings, out of the mines and back into school. In 2022 they established a mobile health clinic that provides vaccines and health services as well as promotes good hygiene practices to different communities throughout the region.

Ziki and his new classmates - Courtesy of CBS This Morning

References

The Price of Progress: Cobalt Mining and the Countless Victims in the Congo

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