There are 500,000 to million freelance miners, called artisanal miners, in the Congo. They mine cooper and cobalt. Two minerals that are necessary for the industralized western world.
Billions of dollars worth of ore have been mined by the artisanal miners. However, they received only a very small portion of that sum. They make only $5 a day on the average. The middle guys make all the money.
It is going to get worse. Their jobs are going away due to increased modern mining processes and equipment. A potential tragedy for the artisanal miners and their families. Millions of Congolese in Katanga will go hungry unless they learn how to farm or to do something else. What?
Link: Can the Mining Industry Brighten Congo's Economy? : NPR.
by Gwen Thompkins Listen Now [7 min 46 sec] NOTE: You can listen online to the broadcast by following the link above. A written transcript is available for small fee of $3.95
Morning Edition, April 24, 2008 · The economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo depends on its natural resources of copper, gold, diamonds and cobalt to fuel the mining industry. Yet the country is still incredibly impoverished. Mining has devastated many sectors of the population since the colonial era — but foreign investors are hoping it can finally boost the struggling economy.
SAMPLE of the transcript:RENEE MONTAGNE, host: If the world were a more predictable place, the Democratic Republic of Congo would be the richest country in Africa. It has diamonds, it has gold, it has copper and cobalt. But the Congolese are barely getting by. The country is betting on its mining sector for a better economic future and yet mining in Congo runs on brutality, greed and bald-faced lies, as NPR’s Gwen Thompkins reports. GWEN THOMPKINS: Most people feel lucky when they find a dollar on the...
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