Congo Rainforest ~ Why DRC Matters ~ Back to DRC page
Image Description
DRC is Bleeding
Title is in a heavy sans serif font, with blood dripping from the letters DRC. The rest of the infographic text is in the same family, but in lighter weights.
There are around 3,000 or more large-scale (LSM) and artisanal/small-scale (ASM) mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This infographic focuses on the active (as of 2023) LSM for the top four minerals by export value (2022).
The 20 mines included are: Frontier, Kinsevere, Kamoa-Kakula, Kolwezi, Etoile, Mutanda, Pumpi, Ruashi, Kamoya, KOV, Mashamba East, Metalkol, Sicomines, Tenke Fungurume, Kibali, Namoya, Twangiza, Aketi, Miba, and Tshibue.
Who Has Blood on Their Hands
Many mines in DRC are owned by multiple companies. This graph shows how many of the above mines each of these countries have ownership in. This is not an exhaustive list of countries exploiting DRC.
Bar chart with x-axis across the top, from 0 to 10. The y-axis is a list of countries. The bars are dark blue, and there’s more blood dripping down from the longest bar on the top, China (10 mines).
The rest are: Luxembourg, Switzerland, and UK (3 mines each), Canada (2 mines), and Morocco, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, and an undisclosed country (1 mine each).
What They’re After
The pie chart shows the distribution of the mines above by the mineral mined in each. The facts around the pie chart are specific to each mineral and thus include ASM data.
Cobalt and Copper (blue and copper stripped slice), 6 mines. 98% of cobalt is mined as a byproduct of copper or nickel.
Cobalt (blue slice), 4 mines. 14% of the world’s cobalt comes from ASM.
Copper (sopper slice), 4 mines. 20,000 tons of copper a month is produced at DRC’s largest copper mine.
Diamond (light gray slice), 3 mines. Over 75% of diamond carats mined in DRC come from ASM.
Gold (yellow slice), 3 mines. Over 90% of DRC’s mined gold is smuggled out of the country, per estimates.
Why They Want It
Illustration showing minerals across the top, uses across the bottom, & lines connecting them.
Diamonds: jewelry, tools, & misc (like construction, plumbing, currency, & more).
Gold: jewelry, misc, & circuitry & electronics.
Cobalt: tools, misc, circuitry & electronics, & vehicle components.
Copper: misc, circuitry & electronics, & vehicle components.
How to Stop the Bleeding
Dark blue shouting head. Call for: Environmental & labor protections in DRC, Cessation of foreign human rights violations in DRC. And keep talking about DRC!
Dark yellow recycling triangle with 3 arrows. Reduce: Buy only what you need & use it for as long as you can. Reuse: Buy used/refurbished & recycle your old stuff.
Red No symbol over the words “conflict minerals.” If you need to buy new, ask the seller for the source. Conflict minerals (mainly gold and tin, tantalum, and tungsten) are both directly from rebel groups in DRC and smuggled out and sold elsewhere.
Sources
https://www.trademap.org/Product_SelCountry_TS.aspx
https://www.ft.com/content/3d33eed1-4358-40ed-a399-58480bbb7601
https://www.ft.com/content/ecf89818-949b-4de7-9e8a-89f119c23a69
https://mines-rdc.cd/fr/archives/2269
https://www.cobaltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cobalt_Factsheet_2022.pdf
https://geology.com/usgs/uses-of-copper/
https://geology.com/usgs/uses-of-gold/
https://geology.com/usgs/uses-of-diamonds/
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/cobalt-statistics-and-information
https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/afr620012013en.pdf