Killer Coltan — Watch the Film
***Photo Mvemba Phezo Dizolele. Coltan and Cassiterite miners in Mushangi, South Kivu.
Events in war-torn Congo may seem remote, but they are no further than your cellphone or DVD player. Eastern Congo supplies 80% of the world’s coltan, a mineral essential to electronic goods. Last summer I traveled to the mines of South Kivu to see who has benefited from the coltan trade and who has paid the price. Watch the film
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Mvemba,
I guess the first question that pops up in my mind shows how little I know about mineral markets like the market for coltan. After the rush in the late 90s for control of the areas where coltan exists, there was a subsiding of demand for the mineral as inventories surley became large, a small but noticable outcry exposed the coltan trade in the region, and there was always more production of tantalum in Australia. So, to my question. How can there still be any significant amount of profit margins for anyone to continue operations for coltan in the DRC?
Comment by Steve — October 28, 2006 @ 1:37 am
Australia? Eh? The Congo is always mentioned in reference to coltan. Gorillas have been killed for it. Coltan is used in cell phones, too and in many electronic gizmos. Probably lots of it used in space exploration gizmos.
Comment by Patti Morey — July 25, 2008 @ 6:31 am