Introduction
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| This map, provided by the UN, shows the countries involved in the mineral conflict Countries: UK, Belgium, Russia, Netherlands, Thailand, Australia, China, and India |
In the Democratic Republic of Congo they have many kinds of rare earth minerals, or minerals that are not really found in any other places. The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the wealthiest countries when it comes to minerals. This makes them a target for other countries looking to obtain the wealth for themselves. This, on top of the fact that they have many different conflicts going on in their borders has made them one of the poorest and most violent countries. Since the conflict began more than 5 million people have died. This is called mineral conflicts. The minerals that are being fought over are Coltan, Cassiterite, Diamonds, Cobalt, and Uranium.
Background Information
- This region that will be discussed is Democratic Republic of Congo, which is located in central Africa. D.R.C. is a country with variety of cultures and languages which adds up to over 200 languages, and dialects which are all spoken within 250 ethnic groups. Although the main languages consist of French, (ki)Swahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Lingala
- Congo is also prolific when it comes to different species and mineral resources which other countries crave for. This leads to many attacks from the outside countries, and tribal conflicts as well.
- The countries that mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo are: DR Congo, United States, United Kingdom, India, China, Australia, Russia, and Netherlands. There are more but once the minerals hit the market they become nearly impossible to track.
D.R.C. provides an extensive amount of minerals that include cobalt, which helps with the creation of magnetic steels, stainless steels, jet turbines, and gas turbine generators. It provides the world with diamonds which helps with grinding, polishing, cutting, drilling materials. Another mineral that is provided is gold. Gold is used in almost all electronics. We use gold in all kinds of microchips and processors to carry out complicated tasks. Gold is also used as gold foil which is very heat resistant and used in space shuttles. Gold is also rare and is mined simply for the monetary value. Tantalum is also found in Congo. This mineral is mainly used in the electronic industry for capacitors and high power resistors. These are just a few examples of the minerals Congo has to offer, although there are more minerals in this country that attracts different countries such as the United states.- Congo has high grade and low cost mines, which is also another reason for the people in other countries to invade Congo, and take possession of these minerals.
When purifying ore sulfuric acid is poured on the ore and then CO2 is released and that is deadly to the environment and its inhabitants.
During another part of the extraction processes releases carbon dioxide which is toxic in concentration and its released in concentration.
Mining and extraction more often than not leaves behind a toxic mess and the people who set up the mine make no effort to cleaning up the mess left behind.
The extraction processes and methods damage the environment by acidifying the nearby ground which is needed for organisms to live, also as water becomes more acidic certain types of non native bacteria.
The environmental impacts of mining and extraction is the acidification of groundwater like lakes and rivers, the gases released cause acid rain
Up to now the mining industry has been able to avoid conforming to environmental ministry by only doing impact studies.
Due to the increasing civil strife in the DRC the government has paid little attention to the environmental degradation that is occurring and they have make very fe laws.
Environmental degradation had being recognized in DRC, so as UNEP study shows that there has being a “substantial progress in strengthening environmental governance”, and as well as surveillance over the mines.
Works Cited
