With a population of at least 67 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2014, the World Bank ranked it second to last on the Human Development Index . Despite the DRC’s poverty level, there is one thing that it has in abundance – cobalt . Cobalt is a mineral used to make lithium ion batteries that Apple , Microsoft , Samsung , Sony , Dell, and many other companies use in their devices. According to experts, more than half of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the DRC, with 20 percent of it from what are called “ artisanal mines .” For many Congolese people, mining cobalt is the only way to feed their families. Unfortunately, artisanal mines are smaller, independent mines, where an industrial-sized operation is not an option. These mines are unregulated and are not a part of the country’s Mining Code and Regulations, this means the...
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