It is high time the big brands took some responsibility for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products.. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo. Companies have found themselves caught between the US and China over the issue of Xinjiang. It's a war-torn, deeply impoverished nation that has been subjected to generations of pillage and ransacking going all the way back, now centuries, to the slave trade. There are probably 10,000 to 15,000 tunnels that are dug by hand by artisanal miners. Cutting battery industry's reliance on cobalt will be an uphill task, Howthe race for cobalt risks turning it from miracle metal to deadly chemical, Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths, Isaw the unbearable grief inflicted on families by cobalt mining. Paul, a 14-year-old orphan, started mining at the age of 12. mineral investment - particularly from China - as it worked to And not just that, they dominate the chain all the way through to the battery level. Siddharth Kara is an author, researcher, screenwriter, and activist on modern slavery. Huayou Cobalt supplies cobalt to three lithium-ion battery component manufacturers Ningbo Shanshan and Tianjin Bamo from China and L&F Materials from South Korea. None said they had been in touch with Huayou Cobalt or traced where the cobalt in their products had come from prior to Amnesty Internationals contact. A worker hands a shovel to his colleague who is inside a salt recovery pool at the Llipi pilot Plant in the Uyuni Salt Flats on August 14, 2022 in Uyuni, Bolivia. The abuses in mines remain out of sight and out of mind because in todays global marketplace consumers have no idea about the conditions at the mine, factory, and assembly line. From Stone to Phone Modern Day Cobalt Slavery in Congo In November, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian critical minerals, citing national security. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday linked the production of lithium in China to "slave labor" as he discussed his own country's efforts to ramp up production of . Workers spoke of labouring for 12 hours a day with no protective clothing, and with many experiencing significant health problems as a result. And so when big foreign. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Gisele Grayson adapted it for the web. 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. And yet I met mothers pounding their chests in grief, talking about their children who had been buried alive in a tunnel collapse. According to the International Seabed Authority, some deposits contain millions of tonnes of cobalt, copper and manganese. One of the largest mineral processors in the country is Huayou Cobalt subsidiary CDM. "Because we put forward environmental responsibility as something we actually expect to be abided by. This is because removing these raw materials can result in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and an increase in global warming (. (Adds Trudeau quote on supply chain) By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday linked the production of lithium in China to "slave labor" as he discussed his own country's efforts to ramp up production of the metal used in electric vehicle and other batteries. Lithium Mining Is Leaving Chile's Indigenous Communities High and Dry (Literally) As the metal fuels the clean tech boom, companies race to mine the Atacama Region. Without laws that require companies to check and publicly disclose information about where they source minerals and their suppliers, companies can continue to benefit from human rights abuses. But in addition, perhaps other cultures could learn from Andean relations with nature as more-than-human beings: an inspiration torethink developmentand turn our own way of living into something less destructive. Carmakers electric dreams depend on supplies of rare minerals, Mining firms face scrutiny over Congo deals. "Our research shows that lithium-ion batteries are produced with an input cobalt made by child labour," it said. In its response to Amnestys allegations, which Amnesty has published in full alongside responses from the other named companies, Apple said it was currently evaluating whether cobalt in the companys products originated in the DRC. Child slave labour in Congo 'horror mines' - European Parliament Of the 16 companies listed in the report as sourcing from battery manufacturers using processed cobalt from Huayou Cobalt, two multinational companies denied sourcing any cobalt from the DRC and five said they had no links with Huayou Cobalt. Oftentimes, digging in these larger open-air pits, there are pit wall collapses. The true figure is unknown as many accidents go unrecorded and bodies are left buried in the rubble. The Global Slavery Index identifies mining, along with garment manufacturing and agriculture, as one of the sectors most at risk of modern slavery. Canada last year announced a tougher policy on critical In their eyes, reverence toward a mountain or the earth itself was worshiping a mere thing, a false god. Though EVsemit fewer greenhouse gasesthan fuel-powered vehicles, their batteriesrequire more mineralsespecially lithium, which is also used to make batteries for smartphones and computers. Last year, a U.S. law took effect banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor. With regards to Tesla, I dont foresee any problems.. China has repeatedly denied the accusations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian previously describing the accusations as the lie of the century. supply chains," Trudeau said. Two worlds collide over Bolivian lithium mining | Fortune While all 60 lithium exploration stocks own projects that are focused primarily on lithium, 19 of the 24 cobalt-related stocks were actually focused primarily on copper, nickel, gold or silver.. The closer things were to prime matter, their argument supposed, the more they needed human imprint and an external purpose to make them valuable. In a joint-investigation with African Resources Watch (Afrewatch), an African NGO focusing on human rights in the minerals and extractive industries, Amnesty International says it interviewed 90 adults and children working in five artisanal cobalt mine sites. Sometimes they're called commandos and they will abduct children, traffic children, recruit children from even other parts of the Congo. The report says that child miners as young as seven carried back-breaking loads and worked in intense heat for between one or two dollars a day without face masks or gloves. In his new book, Cobalt Red, Kara writes that much of the DRC's cobalt is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day. Trudeau suggests China uses slave labor in lithium production The United States has alleged use of forced labor by China in sectors including mining and construction. Trudeau Points to 'Slave Labor' in China Lithium Production - US News said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. The money will be used to construct a plant. At the so-called national lithium table, a high-level meeting of ministers and regional politicians, Argentina's President Mauricio Macri announced that 100,000 tons of lithium would be sourced in the Puna region over the next four years. The glamourous shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks, and miners in narrow manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage, said Mark Dummett, Business & Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International. Bolivias lithium projects pose a new potential clash of worldviews. 34 injured and houses destroyed after Russia launches early morning strikes on Ukraine, US authorities 'auction' First Republic Bank after second biggest bank failure in history, 'Every second is critical': Major upgrade to national emergency messages to receive more than $10m, Donald Trump denied mistrial in rape case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, Environmental group begs French energy giant to reconsider plan to fill Hazelwood coal mine with water, Katharine quit a career in opera to grow heirloom seeds and she has no regrets, Live: Vaping crackdown to include ban on non-prescription imports, Texas gunman on the run. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. The largest of them is Huayou Cobalts Congolese subsidiary CDM. It may prove an economic boon. An artisanal miner carries a sack of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on Oct. 12, 2022. In the way Christians adapted his idea of prime matter, everything wasordered by its level of perfection, ranging from the lowest level prime matter, the most basic stuff of the world to rocks, plants, animals, humans, angels and, finally, God. Hunt for the 'Blood Diamond of Batteries' Impedes Green Energy Push Amnesty International researchers also found that the vast majority of miners spend long hours every day working with cobalt without the most basic of protective equipment, such as gloves, work clothes or facemasks to protect them from lung or skin disease. Transaction Status, Reset Corruption is a big part of the problem. security. And so that's not legal, but it's happening. to ramp up production of the metal used in electric vehicle and The Hidden Risks of Batteries: Child Labor, Modern Slavery, and But since colonial times, thelegacy of mineral abundancein Bolivia has also been one of pollution, poverty and exploitation. Tesla, Apple among firms accused of aiding child labor in Congo Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. Department said in a recent report. But the level of degradation, the level of exploitation is on par with old-world slavery. A joint venture between a Ganfeng unit and Xinjiang Geology and Mineral Investment aims to obtain quality lithium resources, Ganfeng said in a post on an online investor forum in June. That is an unrealistic demand, given that we are hoping to be making electric cars only within a decade., Harrington said it was inevitable that there would an expansion in mining and in providing energy for refining ores which, combined, would have real environmental impacts. Minera Exar is a Canadian company extracting lithium from the region. They must take remedial action on the harm suffered by people whose human rights were abused, said Mark Dummett. The report says that Huayou Cobalt sources more than 40% of its cobalt from the DRC and processes the raw mineral before selling it to battery makers, who claim to supply companies including Apple, Microsoft and Vodafone. And while those outside of the DRC differentiate between cobalt extracted by the country's high-tech industrial mining companies and that which was dug by artisanal miners, Kara says the two are fundamentally intertwined. So if you don't play ball with the power brokers at the top of the chain and with the Global North, Patrice Lumumba showed what's the outcome, what will happen. In an interesting article about South Americas lithium fields by Maeve Campbell, last updated November 21, 2022, it states that any type of resource extraction is harmful to the planet. In Idaho, America's first, and only, cobalt mine in decades is opening, Belgium returned a single tooth to the Congo this week. To this day, worshipers in nearby Lipez region explain the salt flats origin witha traditional legend: It is the mothers milk of their Apu, a female volcano named Tunupa. I pray for change, 'Most renewable energy companies' linked with claims of abuses in mines. Sustainable and ethical: Metal-free batteries in development | World For example, the female divinity of fertility, to whom people owe respect, is thePachamama. Bureau of International Labor Affairs (an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor), Over 70% of the worlds cobalt is extracted from mines in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So you have people with no alternative, no other source of income, no livelihood. their living wages, expecting security and safety standards." But if I've done some justice to bringing those voices out into the world that can scarcely function without the suffering of the Congolese people, then it's all worth it. What's more, he says, "Cobalt is toxic to touch and breathe and there are hundreds of thousands of poor Congolese people touching and breathing it day in and day out. Thousands of artisanal miners dig by hand in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Even the nightmares and the terrors, it's all worth it. Monday, May 1, gold and silver, PCE Price Index reveals latest data suggests inflation slowing but elevated, The Metals, Money, and Markets Weekly April 28, 2023: Sittin' on a fence, Gold and silver: what you are really paying. They are searching for cobalt, the rare-earth metal powering the mobile revolution. Lithium and cobalt mining for electric cars has been controversial globally for years, in part because of its environmental destruction, the short lifespan of batteries and in some countries,. The downside of electromobility: Lithium mining in South America The organizations say Huayou Cobalt should confirm who is involved in mining and trading its cobalt (and where) and make sure it is not buying cobalt mined by child labour or in dangerous conditions. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced because their villages were just bulldozed over to make place for large mining concessions. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. A lithium producer for car makers including BMW and Tesla is beginning work to assess battery metals projects in Xinjiang, deepening links between electric vehicle supply chains and a region at. That's what allows so much of this abuse to persist. They're the most vulnerable and oftentimes trafficked and exploited in some cases in very violent circumstances. Extracting the raw materials, mainly lithium and cobalt, requires large quantities of energy and water. Lithium giant's link to slave labour region puts Tesla in spotlight And so when big foreign stakeholders come waving around large sums of money, it's not a long stretch of the imagination to see that there would be corruption. security as a pretext and said the divestment order broke China in response accused Ottawa of using national security as a pretext and said the divestment order broke international commerce and market rules. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. I met people whose legs had been amputated, who had metal bars in where their legs used to be. Tesla, which has invested heavily in the Chinese market and previously opened a showroom in Xinjiang, said in the report it found no instances of child labor, forced labor or inhumane treatment in audits of its suppliers. All rights reserved. China has made strategic choices over the decades that have made Canada last year announced a tougher policy on critical mineral investment - particularly from China - as it worked to shore up its domestic supply after the global pandemic exposed supply chain problems. At stake: fragile. Anyone with a smartphone would be appalled to think that children as young as seven carrying out back-breaking work for 12 hours a day could be involved at some point in the making of it.. A rush to mine lithium in Nevada is pitting climate advocates and China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels. Several children said they had been beaten by security guards employed by mining companies and forced to pay fines by unauthorised mines police sent by state officials to extort money and intimidate workers. In some cases, predominantly artisanal mining is taking place. The organizations are also calling on China to require Chinese extractive companies operating overseas to investigate their supply chains and address human rights abuses in their operations. Terms & Conditions. The deepening connection between Ganfeng and Xinjiang is set to draw more scrutiny from investors and consumers. Imagery captured over a remote and highly volatile region of western China reveals a growing network of internment camps used to indoctrinate vast numbers of the region's population. Teslas announcement that it was opening a showroom there drew criticism from groups including the Alliance for American Manufacturing. (Image courtesy of Trudeau's press team). 7. Around half of all cobalt comes from the DRC, and no company can validly claim that they are unaware of the human rights and child labour abuses linked with mineral extraction in the region, says Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International. Along With the Carbon Footprint of Lithium Mining: Slavery and a Devastating Legacy Refers to the Social Impact of Lithium-Ion Batteries. They have no industrial tools, no protective clothing, no hard hats, not even facemasks to shield toxic dust or shoes. Their production is likely to increase significantly over the next decade and that could cause serious ecological problems. Fauci says the general public somehow didnt get his messaging that the vulnerable are really, really heavily On Thursday, Lyfts new CEO laid off over 1,000 employees. WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Elon Musk's worst nightmare: child labor and cobalt supply Chinese firms also own, operate or finance most of the Democratic Republic of Congo's cobalt mines, the USLabour Department said in a recent report. In Uyuni, for example, where one of thetwo new lithium plantswill be constructed, Indigenous communities acknowledge the presence of these sacred beings. Cobalt is often mined by children exploited in dangerous and illegal child labor (, Due to research done by Volkswagenag in 2018: The global market for the alkali metal lithium is growing rapidly. And I think that's also a part of this lesson that we need to understand historically, when we talk about things like corruption. Which language would you like to use this site in? (modern). by child labor," it said. China Looks to Africa in Race for Lithium Amnesty International and Afrewatch researchers spoke to 87 current and former cobalt miners, 17 of them children, from five mine sites in southern DRC in April and May 2015. A lithium producer for car makers including BMW and Tesla is beginning work to assess battery metals projects in Xinjiang, deepening links between electric vehicle supply chains and a region at the heart of human rights allegations against China. Modern slavery risk and the mining sector - Pinsent Masons Released this week, it reveals a working situation so terrible for those that mine minerals used in smartphones that it borders on slavery. In 2012, Unicef estimated that there were 40,000 children working in all the mines across the south, many involved in mining cobalt. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. The concept of raw materials can be traced to the theological notion of prime matter. The term originally comes from Aristotle, whose work was introduced to Christianity via Latin translations around the 12th century. For these cultures, nature is not a means to human ends. Between 2008 and 2018 alone, annual production in the major producing countries rose from 25,400 to 85,000 tons. It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the worlds richest, most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for their components. I arrived in the morning and would leave the following morning. A new metal-free battery platform could lead to more sustainable, recyclable batteries that degrade on demand. A representative for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment. Two multinationals denied sourcing cobalt from DRC. All Rights Reserved. Amnesty and Afrewatch are using the findings of the report to call on multinational companies to conduct investigations of their supply chains for lithium-ion batteries, to check for child labour or labour abuses and to be more transparent about their suppliers. In Modern Slavery: the true cost of cobalt mining Hermes details the brutality at the sharp end of the cobalt mining supply chain in the DRC, where children work up to 12 hours a day for as little as $2. Despite its mineral riches, the DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has suffered from decades of war and corrupt leaders. The Catholic Church and the Spanish Empire later used this medieval understanding of matter as something passive, without spirit, tojustify the extractionof resources during colonial times. Themodern economyturns nature into a source ofraw materials: morally and spiritually inert matter that is there to be extracted and mobilized worldwide. Unlike its neighborsChile and Argentina, Bolivia has yet to become a major player in theglobal lithium market. He said that some of the company responses to Amnestys assertions were staggering. But this promise is not worth the paper it is written when the companies are not investigating their suppliers. and Scrap, Open The partners will aim to take advantage of local lithium resources and contribute to the regions economic development, according to a statement posted to WeChat. Kitco Account, Gold retreats as robust US data lifts dollar; focus on Fed, Sotheby's doubles down on NFTs with the launch of a secondary marketplace, S&P, Dow edge higher as JPMorgan gains; Fed meet in focus, Jamie Dimon bails out First Republic - and FDIC, Collapse of First Republic shows banking turmoil is not over, gold price flirts with $2,000 level, Monday's Charts for Gold, Silver and Platinum and Palladium, May 1, Where are the stops? China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels. The . Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday suggested that China uses slave labor in the production of lithium as he discussed . The report, This is what we die for: Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo power the global trade in cobalt, traces the sale of cobalt, used in lithium-ion batteries, from mines where children as young as seven and adults work in perilous conditions. He told researchers that prolonged time underground made him constantly ill: I would spend 24 hours down in the tunnels. These three battery component manufacturers bought more than US$90 million worth of cobalt from Huayou Cobalt in 2013.
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