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posted by janrinok on Monday June 07 2021, @06:38PM   Printer-friendly

Electric Car Batteries Are Turning This Country Into an Actual Hellscape:

As the demand for gadgets and electric cars grows, so too are the mining operations that dig up cobalt to use in lithium-ion batteries.

And that's become a serious problem for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The New Yorker reports, which sits atop about 3.4 million metric tons of the stuff — half of the entire planet's supply. A massive, gold rush-like mining industry was born after residents in poverty-stricken areas discovered ore deposits under their homes. But now, many are finding that digging up the valuable mineral has failed to lift them out of poverty. And meanwhile, dangerous conditions are killing miners as exposure to the metal is poisoning both people and the environment.

A lack of regulations and enforcement over the mines has resulted in the miners, who risk their health and safety for financial security, being exploited by officials and traders who are unscrupulously lining their own pockets, according to The New Yorker. One miner told the publication that he now struggles to pay his $25 monthly rent even as the value of cobalt continues to soar — and the only alternative was to work at a major corporation's mine for considerably less money.

Meanwhile, thousands of children have been put to work as well, according to The New Yorker, some of whom say they can't remember the last time they could afford a meal. In order to keep them working, the kids are often even drugged with appetite suppressors.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @10:39PM (#1142935)

    It might be possible to mine responsibly, but it doesn't seem to be a popular option-- even in the first world.

    The US has a ton of former, but recently operational, mines in National Forest lands which were mainly owned by Canadian companies (and some Brazilian) that are all Superfund sites today.

    That activities in such opposition to conservation as mining/oil and gas drilling/livestock grazing is allowed in wildlife preserves is another issue. But, capitalists don't like the commons unless they can profit off of it.