Entering Dilala washing site near Kolwezi

Karen Hayes and Luc from Pact Congo walk us down into a copper and cobalt washing site in the shadow of Chinese, Indian and Lebanese buying houses on the hills behind. The materials are mined near here, then washed in the river (already the town's brown water), then bagged and hauled up the hill to be weighed. Daily copper and cobalt prices are posted in the "maisons" depending on purity and cash is handed out after a price is agreed upon. Huge lories then carry off the tons of minerals off to Zambia or Johannesburg. All of this activity is technically illegal but accounts for a whopping 90 percent of mineral exports in the DRC.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• copper
• cobalt
• kolwezi
• dilala
• DRC
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• child mining
• Pact