
The Cobalt Pipeline - freakz
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-ion-battery/
======
pm90
First of all, there are many things about this article itself that make me
really happy. The content is a well designed mix of short videos interspread
in an article which references sources, investigates facts independently and
is honest about what it could and could not find. They even mention a part
where Amazon did not reply to their question and state that Amazon is owned by
the same owner as their paper. Overall, I think this is an amazing
journalistic piece. Very nice to see that good journalism is still out there
and hope this catches on as well.

Now, the subject of the article itself: its really sad that the people of
Congo, who should ideally be a part of the global supply chain that brings
prosperity to those involved in it, should be exploited so thoroughly. While
ensuring the source of cobalt is perhaps the first step, maybe what is needed
is better leadership amongst the miners itself (I don't mean this as criticism
but as a suggested solution). I can see that the mining companies and those
profiting from dirt cheap prices of cobalt would be dead against this, but
here again we see what happens when labor is plentiful and there is an absence
of any sort of regulation. The fact is that if companies can get around laws
to get minerals cheaply, they will. Because the market rewards those who give
them raw materials for cheap.

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bogomipz
I was surprised the article left out the issue that there are many mines that
are controlled by regional warlords in the Eastern Congo. Profits from not
only cobalt but other minerals fund regional militias/armies. So its even more
egregious than just labor exploitation as these warlords contribute to
instability in a region that is far from the control of Kinshasa the country's
capital.

It would be good to see something established similar to the Kimberly Accord
for diamonds and certifying conflict free acquisition but the cynical part of
me thinks that this designation would rendered ineffective due to corruption
and falsification.

~~~
archgoon
From the article:

    
    
      > In 2010, the United States passed a conflict-minerals law
      > to stem the flow of money to Congo’s murderous militias,
      > focusing on the artisanal mining of four minerals.
    
      > But this same diligence is not required when it comes to 
      > cobalt.
    
      > While cobalt mining is not thought to be funding wars, 
      > many activists and some industry analysts say cobalt 
      > miners could benefit from the law’s protection from 
      > exploitation and human rights abuses.

~~~
bogomipz
Sure, I read that however I was referring to the establishment of an
internationally accepted certification protocol much like the Kimberly Process
Certifaction Scheme has for diamonds.

Also I don't think anyone can say with any degree of certainty that Cobalt is
not helping to finance militias or warlords when the DRC ranks at 129 out of
149 countries on the Corruption Percpetion Index.

Source:
[http://www.worldaudit.org/corruption.htm](http://www.worldaudit.org/corruption.htm)

It is accepted that much of the "Great War" in the Eastern part of the DRC was
financed by Cassiterite, Cobalt, Coltan and Tungsten.

See: [http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-congo-still-ravaged-by-
u-s-...](http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-congo-still-ravaged-by-u-s-funded-
conflict-and-plunder/5375098)

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afandian
I've been worrying about how I'll find a phone with a proper keyboard when my
current one dies. I knew about the exploitation that went into making
electronics, but without cognitive dissonance we wouldn't get anything done.

I think after reading this article, my next phone will be a Fairphone. There
are more important things than how easy quickly I can write an email.

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OrthoMetaPara
Speaking of lithium batteries, I heard from some guy on the Business News that
the world is oversupplied with lithium. There's enough to last for decades,
apparently.

~~~
empath75
It's the second most common element in the universe.

~~~
evanb
Lithium isn't in the top 10 most abundant chemical elements in the universe (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elem...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements#Abundance_of_elements_in_the_Universe)
). The most abundant, of course, is hydrogen, making up close to 74% of all
the baryonic mass, followed by helium ~24%. Lithium can be fused into heavier
elements and the conversion happens efficiently in stellar environments where
it is produced.

For every 10^6 atoms of silicon, there are only 10^3 atoms of lithium in the
Earth's crust (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth%27s_crust)
).

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TheGrassyKnoll
Not sure if its possible in a warlord controlled situation, but somehow, it
seems like these guys need a union.

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csours
This reminds me of I, Pencil [1], the story of how a pencil is made. There
should be an I, Ethically Sourced Pencil follow up.

1\.
[http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html](http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html)

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pcr0
I looked up holoprosencephaly, the rare congenital defect mentioned in the
article. Stuff of nightmares.

~~~
jaytaylor
Yes, very sad and tragic for sure.

[https://www.genome.gov/12512735/learning-about-
holoprosencep...](https://www.genome.gov/12512735/learning-about-
holoprosencephaly/)

[https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=holoprosencephaly](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=holoprosencephaly)

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ungzd
Full browser window videos with sound to exploit pity, blaming tech industry.
Had Washington Post descend to that yellow press levels? Or it always had at
this level?

~~~
felixpl
What's your point? That the article is overdramatizing the issue?

~~~
ungzd
It's pathos to make more money. Analogue to clickbait. Hollywood-like pity
factory. This media popcorn industry is more responsible for exploiting poor
africans, not creators of mobile phones.

