What minerals get dug up in war zones? Does fighting hurt cobalt and coltan?

"whereas concessions have no effect on the number of conflicts at the territory level (lowest administrative unit), they do foster violence at the district level (higher administrative unit)."

"The struggle to gain control and exploitation of the conflict minerals e.g., coltan, gold, and tin has contributed to the development of armed militias and reduced the efficiency of the state authority (Autesserre, 2010)."

"Conflict minerals are natural resources including tin, tungsten, tantalum (3Ts) and gold whose mining and trade is used to finance armed struggle and human rights violation especially in volatile or war-affected regions (Global Witness, 2010)."

"Even though the agreement did create political space in which the policies partnership agreement and donor-funded governance projects could be conducted, much of the mining economy has stayed informal and dominated by the armed groups or politically influence elite (Le Billon, 2011)."

"insecurity and illegal activities of the mineral trade still sabotage the process of sustainable development and protection of civilians (UN Group of Experts, 2020)."

"The eastern DRC has valuable industrial minerals such as tantalite, cassiterite and tungsten, all of which are critical components in the electronics industry."

"Since 1996 this part of the DRC has seen violent conflict that has claimed more than 5 million lives and is considered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises."

"The demand for these ‘conflict minerals’ remains strong and the minerals trade continues to provide both an incentive and a means for belligerents to maintain their operations."

"In the DRC, about 90% of minerals are mined using artisanal methods, and minerals are often traded informally."

"The DRC is also known for its rich mineral resources and the country has long been a major producer of cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, and, more recently, coltan. The mineral resources of the country are estimated to be worth more than a trillion dollars, drawing the attention of international companies and investors."

"The extraction of minerals such as lithium and gold could pose a significant threat to the environment and the health of people in these countries. Serbia and the DRC’s reliance on foreign companies to implement the mining projects as well as a lack of proper investment in infrastructure and facilities that can counteract the effects of environmental degradation have created vicious cycles of depe"

"The displacement of communities as well as difficult relationships between large mining companies and local miners are common sources of conflict in the DRC (de Koning 2013). These conflicts have arisen due to the local population’s fear of being forced to resettle by the mining companies and due to lack of compensation and disregard for the livelihoods of those communities."

"The chapter examines corporate authoritarian practices in the context of copper and cobalt mining by multinational corporations in Katanga, DRC."

"In 2006, Hatch was awarded a contract to supply fluidized bed technology for the Katanga Mining Limited (KML) copper-cobalt processing project in D.R. Congo [1]."

"It starts with a focus on the Swiss multinational Glencore and the Chinese state-owned company CNMC Huachin, before zooming out to demonstrate broader patterns of silencing, secrecy, and lies by other multinational mining corporations operating in the region."

"The new roaster and the associated solids and off-gas treatment plants are part of the revitalization of an existing facility, which was historically one of the largest cobalt and copper producers in the world."