It regulates and controls production and export of ‘strategic minerals’ – minerals deemed essential to the country’s economic and national security. It is responsible for ensuring that the production of all artisanal cobalt meets high standards of social and environmental responsibility, and for traceability so the cobalt can be tracked from mine to consumer.ĪRECOMS is the industry watchdog. The government granted EGC a monopoly to buy, process and market all artisanal cobalt produced in the DRC. In 2019, as part of this promise for reform, the government announced the creation of two state-owned entities – the General Cobalt Company (EGC) and the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances Markets (ARECOMS). The Congolese government has committed to address the sector’s governance problems by introducing policy and legal frameworks. In mines in southern DRC, an estimated 40,000 children work in life-threatening conditions while being exposed to violence, extortion and intimidation. Waste from mines pollutes water, air and soil while dust from mechanical excavation, or from digging or breaking rocks by hand, can contain toxic metals including uranium which is linked to respiratory disorders and birth defects. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and a big chunk of total cobalt production − around 10-30% − comes from the artisanal sector.īut grave problems embroil the sector, including worker exploitation, child labour and toxic pollution.Ĭobalt extraction causes huge social and environmental damage. As a critical component in batteries used for electric vehicles, demand for cobalt continues to surge.
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