Transcript Production of goods - University of Chicago

From Congo through Chicago:
Understanding the Life-Cycles of Metal
Commodities in the Global Economy
Developed by Brian Ashby
Wolframite mining, Maniema Province,
Democratic Republic of Congo
Photo by: Julien Harneis
Mid-sized scrap yard, Englewood,
South Side Chicago
Photo by: Brian Ashby
Adapted from Brian Ashby’s presentation originally
presented at the June 22-25, 2009
University of Chicago Summer Teacher Institute:
“Understanding the Global Economy: Bringing the
World Market into your Classroom”
http://internationalstudies.uchicago.edu/outreach/summerinstitute/2009/
What does the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
have to do with cell phones?
The DRC has Important and
Rare Metals for Cell Phones
and Other Electronics
• To make cell phones
“weightless” and smaller, metals
called tantalum and cassiterite
are needed. They are used to
make miniature high-voltage
capacitors for circuits.
Wolframite mining, Maniema Province,
Democratic Republic of Congo
Photo by: Julien Harneis
•Nearly every cell phone, PDA,
laptop, and video game console
uses these metals.
Northeast DRC has 64-80% of the World’s
Reserves of Tantalum and 33% of Cassiterite
•Tantalum is found in
columbite-tantalite ore, and is
also known as Coltan.
•Cassiterite is a main source
of the world’s tin, which is
used in solder (which is
melted to join metal surfaces).
Refined tantalum from coltan
Photo: Stephen Hutcheon, The Age, 5/8/09
•The #1 export destination for
the DRC’s tantalum is the U.S.
•The U.S. imports 90% of its
tantalum.
The DRC also has large deposits
(amounts) of silver, zinc,
manganese, uranium, exotic
timbers, coal, oil, and coffee.
Why is this child mining in the DRC?
Ex-child soldier mining gold, Mongbwalu, Northeastern DRC, 2004
Photo: Marcus Bleasdale / Photo Agency VII
Money
•Mining is performed by local people
responding to gold-rush conditions.
•Mining is performed using hands,
pickaxes, plastic buckets, and
troughs made of bark, in alluvial
deposits (riverbed silt) or open pits.
•Even after taxation, coltan miners
can make up to $50 a day. The
current average living standards in
the DRC are still below $1 per day!
•Many children work in the mines.
Gold dealer, Bunia, Ituri Province
Photo: Riccardo Gangale
The Mines
Rebel-controlled mines
are dug deep into
inaccessible rainforests,
national parks, and
indigenous peoples’
territories.
Flows of goods and
people are controlled by
lengthy guarded
footpaths and small
private airstrips.
Human chain in Chudja open-pit gold mine, Northeastern DRC
Photo: Finbarr O’Reilly / Reuters
The demand for these rare
metals has lead to…
WAR
The war was not originally fought
over natural resources. However,
after new mining operations began,
domestic and foreign rebel groups
have continued to fight for control of
infrastructure and contracts, and
ultimately for money.
Photo taken by Spyros Demetriou
A Multinational War
• In exchange for mining
allowance, the Congolese
government was aided by
the armies of Zimbabwe,
Angola, Namibia, Chad,
Libya, and Sudan.
• Against them, the armies
of Rwanda, Uganda, and
Burundi seized large
territories in the East, and
supported numerous
rebel groups. The conflict
is referred to as the
African World War.
Who is dying for this war?
• An estimated 5.4 million people have died since the
Second Congo War began in 1998, the deadliest
conflict since World War II.
•
More than half have died since the war’s official end in
2003, and an estimated 90% of these total deaths are
from disease and starvation.
•
More than 1,000 people daily are still dying avoidable
deaths in the DRC.
• 30,000 rapes have been reported in the DRC each year
for the past 4 years. The unreported number could be 4
times higher.
Sources: International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International
The Soldiers
Mai Mai child soldier,
Kanyabyongo,
North Kivu, 2009
Photo: Marcus Bleasdale
/ Photo Agency VII
• The DRC conflict has employed the highest number of child soldiers
in the world -- up to 40% of rebel and government forces at the war’s
height, with more than 10,000 yet to be de-mobilized.
• Official government corruption leaves Congolese soldiers rarely
paid. As a consequence, they pillage rather than protect local
populations. Commanders conspire with rebel leaders to gain
mining concessions.
Transporting Metals out of DRC
•In DRC, as in all of Africa, networks
of mainly Ukrainian and South
African pilots charge a premium to
carry goods via small Soviet-era
planes across remote areas.
• In addition to ferrying illicit natural
resources, these transport
companies are linked to arms
smuggling, sanctions busting, drug
trafficking, and coup attempts.
Photos: Guy Tillim / Vanity Fair 6/13/07
Who Buys the Metals?
• Contracts are made in DRC mining centers by mainly
Chinese, Lebanese, and Indian buyers; bribes are
made to truck minerals across the borders of Rwanda,
Uganda, and Zambia; they find their way to ports in
Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa; are refined
in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Europe; and enter
the global supply chain via markets in China and
Russia.
• Having passed through so many middleman, it is nearly
impossible for multinational companies such as Sony,
Apple, Nokia, Dell, and Ericsson to verify their suppliers’
claims of their materials’ countries of origin, let alone
certification of mining practices. Major tantalum
processors such as US-based Kemet and Cabot claim to
have ceased buying from the DRC since 2001, however,
the trade hasn’t stopped.
Who is responsible for this war?
We all are.
With Demand for Cell Phones…
comes demand for the materials
that make up the cell phones.
With demand for anything…
comes money to those who can
provide the materials needed.
How is the Demand for Cell
Phones Increasing?
• In 2005, worldwide mobile phone sales surpassed 200
million every 3 months – production equivalent to one
every 25 seconds.
• In 2005, the U.S. consumers typically replaced their cell
phones once every 18 months. In Western Europe, once
a year.
• In 2007, total mobile subscribers surpassed 2 billion – that
equals one phone for every 3 people on the planet.
• Currently, despite take-back programs, less than 1% of
retired phones are recycled in the U.S.
• Unfortunately, it is not possible for human rightsconscious consumers to specifically boycott any of the
complex array of minerals found in small quantities inside
Sources: US Geological Survey, UN Global Policy Forum
their electronics.
What is the US doing?
4/23/2009--Sponsored by Senator Samuel
Brownback R-(KS).
Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 Declares it is U.S. policy to promote peace
and security in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) by supporting the efforts of
the DRC, other governments in the Great
Lakes Region of Africa, and the
international community to. THIS IS STILL
A BILL HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED
Co-sponsors: Sen. Mark Begich [D, AK],
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA], Sen. Roland
Burris [D, IL], Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D,
MD], Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL], Sen.
Russell Feingold [D, WI], Sen. Charles
Schumer [D, NY], Sen. Roger Wicker [R,
MS]
What can we do as Global Citizens?
Global Citizenship
• Awareness -- Stay aware of what is going on in the
DRC and in other countries. Follow the Congo
Conflict Minerals Act and write your congressmen in
support of the Act.
• Recycle – Recycle your old batteries, computers, cell
phones, and other e-waste. Recycling old e-waste
will cut down on the demand to mine for more
minerals.
• Be conscious of what aspects of your life involve
other people, countries, etc. Consider what you
really need.