The eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been plunged for decades into various armed conflicts fueled by the trafficking of “blood minerals”. From now on, coltan is the object of all envy.
Since January 1 of this year, the European Union has imposed greater traceability on certain “sensitive” minerals. Henceforth, tin, tungsten, tantalum (extracted from coltan) and gold – frequently referred to as “conflict minerals” – must come exclusively from sources traceable throughout the chain, from extraction to processing. The Union is thus trying to respond to accusations of laxity of which European companies are said to be guilty in their supply of rare metals, thus sustaining murderous trafficking. It joins the United States, which made a similar commitment in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank law.
The new regulation “foresees the obligation for European companies intervening in the supply chain to ensure that their imports of these minerals and metals come exclusively from responsible sources and do not result from conflicts”.
Coltan in the dock
Trafficking in gold and diamonds has been clearly identified for decades. It allows warlords to equip themselves with weapons and lead murderous guerrillas. But with the advent of electronic equipment, something new has emerged: coltan. Tantalum is extracted (between 20 and 40% of the ore). Excellent electrical conductor, corrosion resistant and easily stretchable, it has become indispensable in smartphones and other computers, but also in aircraft construction.
Coltan is, with the notable exception of Europe, found all over the world. According to BRGM, the French body responsible for mineral resources, Central Africa ranks fifth in world reserves. It is a very marginal exploitation (2000 tons of tantalum refined in the world), compared to the volume of copper (20 million tons), nickel or iron. But coltan has an advantage, it is the price of tantalum: between 200 and 600 dollars per kilo. Transactions are over-the-counter, and the ore has no real stock exchange listing.
Illegal mining
The Kivu region, where the most important deposits of Central Africa are located, has also for years been a zone of deadly conflicts, for which the grabbing of natural resources would be one of the reasons. Illegal mining by rudimentary means, with a shovel and a pickaxe, would be a source of income for armed bands which employ populations in search of a modest income. The forced labor of children, in these mines of all dangers, is regularly reported, even if officially it is prohibited in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
South Kivu has 900 artisanal mines in all sectors, reports the L’Echo website. A certification process has been launched to guarantee “clean” mines, particularly with regard to child labor, or the declaration of volumes extracted and their marketing. But “to date, barely 150 mines have been certified. The rest is absolute vagueness,” explains L’Echo, who adds that nothing is ready for the application of the European regulation.
For lack of statistics, we do not know the reserves of coltan available to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The figures that appear here and there granting it 80% of the world’s reserves would be very fanciful.
“Blood minerals”
We do not know much more about the volumes extracted which have officially continued to decrease since the speculative surge in prices in 2000. Here, as in other economic sectors of the country, the administration has a hard time establishing its authority. , divided between a lack of resources and corruption.
But the seizures made at the border with Rwanda say a lot about the existence of significant trafficking. In August 2020, customs officers seized in quick succession 1.2 tonnes of coltan hidden in a tanker truck, then more than 500 kg from smugglers.
The very structure of the sector, where operators prefer to transform their raw material from neighboring Rwanda, sheltered from conflicts and corruption, only adds to the opacity. In such a context, the European will to clean up the rare metals market, if it goes in the right direction, risks being only a gesture to give oneself a clear conscience.
MediaCongo Jacques Deveaux
Jacques Deveaux
France Info / MCP, via mediacongo.net
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