Free Republic 4th Qtr 2025 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $1,639
2%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 2%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Keyword: cobslt

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  • Inside the mine that feeds the tech world - and funds Congo’s rebels

    08/13/2025 2:18:10 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 6 replies
    Reuters ^ | August 13, 2025 10:00 AM UTC | Giulia Paravicini and David Lewis
    RUBAYA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Under the watchful eye of M23 rebels in the hills around the Congolese town of Rubaya, a line of men in rubber boots ferry sacks full of crushed rocks up winding paths cut into the slopes.The laborers are hauling coltan ore, a mineral that powers the modern world. The ore will be loaded onto motorbikes and eventually shipped thousands of kilometers away to Asia. There it’s processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that fetches more than $300 a kilogram and is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas...
  • At least 50 feared dead in DR Congo mine collapse

    09/12/2020 8:51:17 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 8 replies
    al jazeera ^ | 09/12/2020
    The accident in the makeshift mine occurred on Friday about 3pm local time (13:00 GMT) following heavy rains in the town of Kamituga in South Kivu province. The mine was not located on the Kamituga gold concession owned by the Canadian miner Banro Corporation, the company's chief executive said. Thousands of informal miners operate in and around mines in DRC, which produces more than half of the world's cobalt, a key component in electric car batteries. Mining accidents are common, with dozens of deaths every year in mines where often ill-equipped diggers burrow deep underground in search for ore. Last...