COBALT MINING

Welcome to the HTS Global Cobalt Mining Database. This page serves as a resource hub for articles, blogs, films and podcasts on the intersection of the cobalt mining sector and child labor, labor trafficking, the green energy movement and modern-day slavery.

Congolese workers challenge mining companies in DRC courts

Hundreds of mining executives, investors and politicians gathered at Africa’s 2024 Mining Indaba in Cape Town this month to discuss “positive disruption” …
cobalt

EV, Phone Makers Warned on Forced Labor in Cobalt Supply Chain

Cobalt used in batteries is mined in DRC, processed in China US lawmakers caution American businesses on risks A bipartisan congressional …

Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers

The Shabara artisanal mine, where cobalt and copper are dug out by hand, near the Congolese boomtown of Kolwezi. FUNGURUME, …

DRC: Powering Change or Business as Usual?

Artisanal miners work at the Tilwizembe mine, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine outside of Kolwezi in the DRC [File: Aaron …

‘Here it is better not to be born’: Cobalt mining for Big Tech is driving child labor, deaths in the Congo

Child labor, sexual assault, birth defects, abject poverty, workers buried alive: A new exposé on artisanal cobalt mining in the …

Electric vehicle batteries require precious minerals. That old cellphone may be the solution

A worker assembles an electric car battery inside the battery pack shop at the electric automobile plant of VinFast in …

U.S. says Chinese lithium-ion batteries are made with child labour as trade war spills into EVs

Children wash copper at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2010. PHOTO BY GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES The U.S. …

How Is Your Phone Powered? Problematically.

Despite big companies’ pledges to crack down on exploitative practices, much cobalt mining remains unsafe and unregulated.Credit…Ashley Gilbertson for The …

Loving Thy Neighbor VS Upgrading Your IPhone

An artisanal miner works at a cobalt mine-pit in Tulwizembe, Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo, November 25, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Kenny Katombe. …

Testimony: China-backed cobalt mines in Congo exploit 40,000 child workers

Congolese civil rights attorney Hervé Diakiese Kyungu testifying on July 14, 2022, at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. on …

Formalization of Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining in DRC

Global demand for cobalt, a key component of lithium-ion batteries used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles, is expected to …

Report from Stakeholder Consultations on the ASM Cobalt ESG Management Framework – With the goal of developing an inclusive and effective ASM Cobalt Framework

The Global Battery Alliance’s Cobalt Action Partnership (GBA CAP) the CAP Project Management Office (PMO) and the CAP Steering Committee …

The Global Battery Alliance Battery Passport

Giving an identity to the EV’s most important component Batteries do much more than just power electric vehicles (EVs) – …

Congo, child labour and your electric car

Informal workers produce almost a third of the country’s cobalt. Can mining groups address the problem? Kongolo Mashimango Reagen used …

CMOC’s Congo mine suspends copper and cobalt exports

Workers at Tenke Fungurume, a copper mine in the southern Congolese province of Katanga, check bundles of copper cathode sheets, …

A Green Transition But At What Cost? Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction The rapid advancements in technology throughout the last decades have resulted in many people across the globe acquiring access …

Climate Change and the Cost of Green Energy to People in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Blog post by HTS Research Fellow Luke Fanous Saving the planet should not come at the expense of people’s human …

Cobalt Mining: The Dark Side of the Renewable Energy Transition

Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition. As …

Cobalt miners seeking to expand in Congo face human rights accusations

Miners fill bags with cobalt ore at the depot of the Kasulo mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt …

Accelerating transition: the case for formalising artisanal and small-scale mined cobalt in the DRC

This whitepaper builds on our Meeting the EV challenge: Responsible sourcing of cobalt in the electric vehicle battery supply chain publication first …

Chinese investment in Congolese cobalt: the challenges of international mining investment

Credit: Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash It is no secret that the world’s demand for minerals is growing and diversifying, and …

Koba Resources to make its mark in ethical cobalt space with high-grade US-based projects

Somewhere between 65% and 70% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but recently-listed Koba Resources …

INTERVIEW: On responsible cobalt from DRC, industry needs to ‘put its money where its mouth is’

The Fair Cobalt Alliance is aiming to raise $20 million by 2025 to help develop a responsible and fair supply …

Cobalt Institute: Championing responsible mining in the DRC

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution has resulted in an ever-increasing demand for cobalt. As a producer of more than 65% …

Blood cobalt One of the poorest countries on Earth is paying a heavy price for the world’s green energy revolution

The Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was known to colonial adventurers as the Copper Belt. There’s …

Congo Is Not For Sale

Statement following the roundtable on the agreement between Dan Gertler’s Ventora Group and the DRC, regarding the restitution of oil …

Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Needs Urgent Attention

An artisanal miner carries raw ore at Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine, outside of Kolwezi, the capital city of …

The ITSCI laundromat

Executive Summary Minerals extracted by hand from the African Great Lakes region are in huge demand. The Democratic Republic of …

Can We Get Clean Energy Without Dirty Mines?

In 2021, global sales of electric vehicles more than doubled. This year, automakers are projected to make another huge gain, …

The EV Boom is Being Fueled by Underpaid, Underfed Cobalt Miners

Workers at a Tesla supplier say they can’t get enough food or water on the job Andre clocks into his …

Time to Recharge: Corporate Action and Inaction to Tackle Abuses in the Cobalt Supply Chain

Our world is increasingly powered by lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, ranging from the ones found in everyday mobile technologies, such as …

Congo, Batteries and Global North Consumption- Webinar

Congo, Batteries and Global North Consumption. The video of Central London GJN’s meeting on Monday the 14th of March on …

Ethics of cobalt mining must be taken seriously by traders

Artisanal miners at a cobalt pit in Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds 70% of the world’s supply. Workers are …

How Child Labour Could Be Fuelling Your Electric Car

Angus Sargent is an Engagement Manager for the Social Transformation at the World Benchmarking Alliance. He specialises in human rights …

Infographic Overview of Study on Child Rights in Cobalt ASM in the DRC

Download a PDF of the Infographic here. 

Race to the Future: What to Know About the Frantic Quest for Cobalt

The clean energy revolution is replacing oil and gas with a new global force: the minerals and metals needed in …

Electric Cars And Cobalt Mining: The Environmental Sustainability Of The Privileged

Benita Kayembe is a Graduate Student at Harvard University and a Cornell University Alumna in addition to being a Global …

Opportunities for Businesses to Promote Child Rights in Cobalt Mining

Foreword Demand for cobalt is increasing significantly as more electric cars and other green energy solutions reach consumers. With this …

The Road to Ruin? Electric vehicles and workers’ rights abuses at DR Congo’s industrial cobalt mines

Executive Summary Cobalt is everywhere. It is a silvery-blue mineral used in the rechargeable batteries that power our mobile phones, …

The Dark Side of Congo’s Cobalt Rush

Cell phones and electric cars rely on the mineral, causing a boom in demand. Locals are hunting for this buried treasure—but …

When subterranean slavery supports sustainability transitions? power, patriarchy, and child labor in artisanal Congolese cobalt mining

Through the critical lenses of “modern slavery,” “dispossession,” and “gendering,” this study examines the contours of power, patriarchy, and child …

Hunt for the ‘Blood Diamond of Batteries’ Impedes Green Energy Push

KASULO, Democratic Republic of Congo — A man in a pinstripe suit with a red pocket square walked around the …

DÉCLARATION CONCERNANT LA TABLE RONDE SUR L’ACCORD ENTRE LE GROUPE VENTORA DE DAN GERTLER ET LA RDC

i. Participation aux travaux de la table ronde 1. Le 12 avril 2022, le Cabinet du Président de la République a …

The Congo, cobalt and cash: what connects SDGs 9 and 8.7?

The Rights Track podcast gets the hard facts about the human rights challenges facing the world today and aims to …

A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution

Photographs by Ashley Gilbertson The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against …

‘Like slave and master’: DRC miners toil for 30p an hour to fuel electric cars

 Illustration: Pep Boatella/The Guardian Congolese workers describe a system of abuse, precarious employment and paltry wages – all to power …

Opinion: How modern slavery threatens climate efforts

Image: Haze following forest fires in Riau, Indonesia. Photo by: Aulia Erlangga / CIFOR / CC BY-NC-ND In response to the urgent …

Solving the critical cobalt conundrum

The envisioned green future where every North American is driving a battery-powered electric vehicle charged with renewable energy could be …

Modern Slavery: The true cost of cobalt mining

Thousands of artisanal miners dig by hand in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Children, too. They have no industrial …

The Resource Curse Revised: Conflict and Coltan in the Congo

The Resource Curse and its Paradox The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as “The Congo” and “Zaire,” …

The High Human Cost of Cobalt Mining

From its use as a coloring pigment in ceramics in Ancient Egypt, to its discovery as a key ingredient in much of …

The DRC Mining Industry: Child Labor and Formalization of Small-Scale Mining

Last year, many took to social media using the hashtag #NoCongoNoPhone to fight against the cobalt supply chain that fosters …

Children as young as seven mining cobalt used in smartphones, says Amnesty

A cobalt mine between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photograph: Federico Scoppa/AFP/Getty Images Children as young …

Meet Dorsen, 8, who mines cobalt to make your smartphone work

The mineral is an essential component of batteries for smartphones and laptops, making billions for multinationals such as Apple and …

Apple cracks down further on cobalt supplier in Congo as child labor persists

A boy carries a bag used to transport cobalt-laden dirt and rock at a mineral market outside Kolwezi, Congo, on …

THE COBALT PIPELINE Tracing the path from deadly hand-dug mines in Congo to consumers’ phones and laptops

Photos by Michael Robinson Chavez The sun was rising over one of the richest mineral deposits on Earth, in one of …

RDC: Un nouveau rapport révèle les conditions de travail désastreuses des employés des sous-traitants des mines industrielles de cobalt

Un nouveau rapport révèle des conditions désastreuses, de la discrimination et des salaires extrêmement bas dans les mines industrielles de …

Researchers link cobalt mining in the DRC to violence, substance abuse, food-water insecurity

After studying the impacts of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Northwestern …

Understanding cobalt’s human cost

Social consequences of green energy must be assessed in addition to environmental impacts, researchers say While driving an electric car …

Addressing the social life cycle inventory analysis data gap: Insights from a case study of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Summary Evaluating the human health and well-being effects of emerging technologies is essential. Yet, data to support rigorous evaluation of …

New Idaho mine could mark beginning of cobalt boom as demand for climate-friendly minerals skyrockets

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has set the United States on an ambitious path toward dramatically cutting its carbon emissions …

The Global Race to Mine the Metal of the Future

In the high-stakes competition to dominate the business of clean energy, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a major arena: …