Computers, Congo and Children

“As defined by [the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry], rare earth elements (‘REEs’) or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.” Wikipedia. Whoa, that was one exciting description! REEs are scattered about the earth, plentiful in absolute amounts, but there are only a few places on earth where they are so concentrated so as to make extracting them commercially viable. Like China.

“Around 95 percent of the world’s rare earth element supply is controlled by China, which has previously ceased production to further raise the materials’ value.” theVerge.com, March 25^th. So what? They are essential in the manufacturing of: modern batteries, catalytic converters, small electric motors, all kinds of modern light bulbs (compact fluorescents, LEDs), hard drives, portable electronics, flat panel displays, etc. If you were to pull REEs out of your life, you would fly back decades to a different era. What’s even worse, you couldn’t even read this blog!

So these market distortions and harsh availability issues force those who find, mine and extract these essential ingredients to find pockets of REEs elsewhere on the planet. Unfortunately, one of the alternative venues where rare earths concentrated is also one of the most miserable, war torn and inhospitable lands in the world: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which also controls somewhere between 20%-50% of the world’s supply of one REE, tantalum.

Dominated by warlords, plagued by one of the most corrupt governments in the world, and violent beyond words, the Congo has REEs. Worse yet, it is a nation where violent locals infamously have exploited child labor, from boy-soldiers conscripted by local warlords and trained to kill to little ones working mine or in other forbidding venues to doing the dirty work in hostile environments, from ugly mines to flooded plains where resources can be found.

Much of this work takes place in active combat zones, where in addition to harsh working conditions, rakes of AKA 47 fire can take out these helpless little workers in seconds. Oh, did I mention that the value of these REEs can also provide financial support for these same warlords attempting to topple the regime? So sometimes, these warlords are actually controlling the REE extraction efforts. Rape, random acts of “enforced discipline,” untreated injuries and raging disease and malnutrition are everywhere.

Western buyers are often restricted in where they can buy these REEs. “In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a piece of legislation that mainly dealt with the financial system, but also required public companies to disclose where source materials came from--and, by extension, whether they aided armed groups in the DRC in controlling, exploiting, and abusing local populations… Since, the number of ‘green,’ or militia-free mines in the DRC has grown, though they remain in the minority.” FastCompany.com, October 9^th. The government shut down mines in the east as a result, but lifted the ban in 2011.

Engineers are working on technologies (e.g., “conflict-free” microchips) that use fewer REEs, particularly those that have dubious linkage to these conflict zones, but progress isn’t remotely fast enough. Of course, the other side of the moral coin is that taking conflict-REEs out of the mix may deprive warlords of funding to buy their munitions, but it also takes away the only meagre living too many horribly impoverished families can find.

To see a range of photographs from this conflict-torn region, I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of National Geographic’s 125^th Anniversary Edition (October) for a series of pictures (like the one above) that will blow your mind. Obviously, a peaceful Congo would find economic hope from its reserves of REEs. The country needs this value to lift masses out of dire poverty. But this violence-infested land uses these self-same resources to fund the needless slaughter that all-too-often defines the Congo. We have a whole lot of reasons to help settle this region… because it is morally right… or for purely selfish reasons. One way or the other, we need to try.

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you really don’t care about these distant conflicts in distant lands, you are definitely part of the problem.