The Global Impact of Coltan Mining for Cell Phones, Electronics and Games

Coltan, a dull black mineral ore with the industrial name of columbite-tantalite, is used in the production of thousands of types of electrical devices. You may have never heard of this material but it's vital in the production of cell phones, jet engines, rockets, DVD players, video game devices, and computers with millions of units being sold annually. The coltan used in these products is mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Mozambique and the Congo. Because it is so vital to the production of consumer digital devices, the price has risen drastically in recent years and created environmental and humanitarian challenges that are worth considering and rectifying.

Now according to Wikipedia, the US Geological Survey reported in 2006 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produces a little less than 1% of the world's coltan. While the Rwandan occupation in the DRC prevented the DRC from exploiting coltan for its own benefit, it did not prevent illegal mining and smuggling of coltan by militias from Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda.

An activist group called Towards Freedom (www.towardsfreedom.com) claims that coltan smuggling funds the income of the military occupation of the Congo. They state that the demand for coltan has caused military groups and western mining companies to seek hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coltan, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and children to work in the DRC coltan mines.

According to Towards Freedom, the 2000 launch of the Sony Playstation 2 required a huge increase in the production of electric capacitors, which are made primarily with tantalum. As a result, the world price of the powder went from $49 per pound to $275 per pound. In order to meet this demand, there was accelerated mining of the Congolese hills, which contain coltan.

Wikipedia states that Sony claims they discontinued their use of tantalum mined in the Congo. However, statistical analysis states that it is nearly inconceivable that Sony produced so many Playstations without the use of coltan from the Congo. Currently, industry experts estimate that most of coltan from the DRC is being exported to China where it is processed into electronic-grade tantalum powder and wires. It is estimated that 64% to 80% of the of the world's coltan reserves can be found in the Congo.

On top of the political and economical impact of illegal coltan mining, there is an environmental impact. Excessive mining causes erosion of the land which pollutes nearby lakes and rivers. The pollution smothers organisms living in the waters, cutting off major food supplies for nearby animals.

One animal that is impacted by coltan mining is the Eastern Mountain Gorilla. Miners of coltan are located many miles from any food source, so they hunt the gorillas or "bush meat" for food. An estimated 3-5 million tons of bush meat is killed in Central and Western Africa every year. As a result, Eastern Mountain Gorillas are nearly extinct. What can you do about all of this? For starters, you can recycle your old cell phone to places like EcoCell. You can also write to companies, like Sony, who use coltan and encourage them to look for ways to prevent their sources from using coltan mined in the Congo.

A report found on the EcoCell website states that:
"Ideas such as "gorilla free" cell phones (like dolphin free tuna) are appealing to many western markets (but not southern markets, which have the highest rates of growth for cell-phone purchases and usage). Continued pressure and publicity by the IUCN, UNESCO (supporting the World Heritage Sites), and other conservation groups may help to shrink up the market for eastern Congo. Developing ore signatures that can identify the sources of coltan would also provide a real measurement standard for the industry, enabling better accountability for source determination."

To find out more, visit the Towards Freedom website at towardsfreedom.com. You can also find out more at eco-cell.com.