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 child labor and the exploitation of small-scale artisanal miners. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has some of the world’s most valuable minerals, such as copper, gold, coltan, cobalt, and diamonds, and has the earth’s second-largest forest after the Amazon. Yet, the DRC is one of the world’s poorest countries as poverty and humanitarian crises plague its citizens.
More than half of the world’s cobalt resources are located in the DRC, and over 70% of the world’s cobalt mining occurs there. Artisanal miners produce 20% of the country’s cobalt output. The remainder comes from foreign-owned firms, primarily Chinese, whose rechargeable battery industry accounts for around 60% of global cobalt demand.
Cobalt is an essential raw material used by large tech companies for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, electronic devices, and electric cars. However, the DRC’s valuable cobalt industry comes at a price: extraction of the mineral is linked to child labor, safety risks, environmental abuses, and corruption. If the DRC fails to adopt and enforce stricter regulations to protect small-scale miners, these trends will increase alongside the technology-driven surge in cobalt demand, projected to grow by 60% by 2025.
Child Labor
Small-scale mining in the DRC involves people of all ages, including children, obligated to work under harsh conditions. Of the 255,000 Congolese mining for cobalt, 40,000 are children, some as young as six years. Much of the work is informal small-scale mining in which laborers earn less than $2 per day while using their own tools, primarily their hands.
As global demand for Congolese mineral resources increases, so do the associated dangers that raise red flags for Congolese miners’ human rights.
Numerous big-tech companies like Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla were cited in a lawsuit over deaths and serious injuries sustained among child laborers in DRC cobalt mines. The attempt to hold big-tech accountable is a positive step that must be accompanied by increased public awareness of child labor exploitation and the deplorable work conditions of small-scale mining.