SCARRED EARTH: Satellite images show the impact of cobalt mining on the environment in one African city. The mineral is used in batteries that power everything from cellphones to electric vehicles.
February 8, 2023, 6:02 AMA view of the open pit mine in downtown Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct. 13, 2022. Once a thriving neighborhood of neat houses and tree-shaded avenues, this district of the city of Kolwezi is now nearly destroyed.As officials around the world call for a transition to a greener economy, one city is being transformed to accommodate the growing demand for one important mineral: cobalt.
Satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs shows the dramatic growth of copper and cobalt mines in and around Kolwezi over the last 5 years as demand has skyrocketed. This rapid growth has changed the area as more land is conceded to mines. Anaïs Tobalagba, a policy researcher for RAID, a corporate watchdog organization, said the expansion has caused problems.
This mining boom has also led many to turn to the industry for work. And while many work for established industrial mines and the large mining companies, many more work as artisanal miners, digging in informal pits alongside thousands in a cooperative without professional, large-scale equipment. Artisanal and small-scale mining are estimated to employ an estimated 200,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and over a million more are indirectly involved through trade and transport.
At mine sites he visited, "people were caked in toxic filth, children caked in toxic grime and filth and scrounging in pits, trenches and tunnels to gather cobalt bearing ore and feed it up the supply chain," he said. David Sturmes is the strategic partnerships director for the Fair Cobalt Alliance. The FCA is an initiative working with mining companies and lithium-ion battery buyers like Tesla and Google, to improve the artisanal mining sector. It has worked with a Kolwezi mining cooperative to implement safety regulations, supply personal protective equipment, and eliminate child labor, at this cooperative's mine site.
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