English language
Published Jan. 1, 2023 by St. Martin's Press.
All of the things that we now depend on, in our pockets, on our desks, and, increasingly on our roads, depend largely on cobalt mined in horrific conditions, often by children in the Congo.
Really well researched and well written. The author spent time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at times risking his life, to get the stories of the artisinal miners told. I highly recommend reading this book.
First up, it has to be said that this book is breathtakingly brutal. The descriptions of the conditions under which Congolese artisanal miners work, and the injuries they suffer, are heartrending. The author has obviously shown great persistence, bravery, and empathy in investigating in the field. He counterposes statements from major electronics and EV manufacturers against the claim that there is no such thing as 'clean' cobalt, because artisanal (i.e., hand-mined) cobalt is merged into the supply chain so early that it can't be distinguished from mechanically-mined cobalt. That said, I'd have liked to see more explanation of just how the supposed certification processes function and how they fail so badly. That would also likely alleviate my other criticism which is that focusing on his observations in the field, involving Congolese security guards and officials together with Chinese dealers, runs the risk of occluding the role of Western companies in …
First up, it has to be said that this book is breathtakingly brutal. The descriptions of the conditions under which Congolese artisanal miners work, and the injuries they suffer, are heartrending. The author has obviously shown great persistence, bravery, and empathy in investigating in the field. He counterposes statements from major electronics and EV manufacturers against the claim that there is no such thing as 'clean' cobalt, because artisanal (i.e., hand-mined) cobalt is merged into the supply chain so early that it can't be distinguished from mechanically-mined cobalt. That said, I'd have liked to see more explanation of just how the supposed certification processes function and how they fail so badly. That would also likely alleviate my other criticism which is that focusing on his observations in the field, involving Congolese security guards and officials together with Chinese dealers, runs the risk of occluding the role of Western companies in this dismal supply chain.
This was tough, but required reading - incredibly eye opening, but at the same time leaves me feeling helpless to do anything - short of stopping using anything electrical or with batteries.
I will however, when the time comes to upgrade to an EV, do much more thorough research on how and where the batteries came from. This is even though the moral of the story here seems to be that it will never be untainted, hopefully one day someone sets up better infrastructure for the Artisanal miners...one day...
