Congo-China
Congo: Pressure mounts between Chinese cobalt mine workers and their Chinese bosses
Beijing: Chinese companies are slowly entering the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in search of cobalt recently, triggering a new conflict in the region.
DRC houses a significant reserve of cobalt.
Cobalt assumes significance in today's world as it is an essential component in the lithium-ion batteries which power smartphones, laptops and electric cars.
The Central African nation has an estimated 3.4 million tonnes of cobalt, almost half the world’s known supply. But in a country where the World Bank estimates three-quarters of the population live on less than two dollars a day, the mineral rush has also come with challenges, reports The South China Morning Post.
Thousands of “artisanal miners” have moved into the area, extracting cobalt by hand or rudimentary tools. Sometimes illegal miners intrude into mines legally assigned to local or foreign entities, leading to confrontation, reports the newspaper.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
