Cobalt is only extracted alone in Morocco and some Canadian arsenide ores. The process of cobalt mining involves many steps, including locating suitable deposits and extracting the ore before refining it into a usable form. Tuesday on " CBS This Morning" we will show you more of the story of Ziki, the young boy we found at the mines, and some of the efforts being taken to rescue the children. Cobalt is mined across the world and the vast majority is produced as a by-product from large scale copper and nickel mines. The charity described the support from these multinational companies as a "drop in the ocean," as countless companies are buying the child mined cobalt. We spoke to Pact, an NGO that is working with Apple, Microsoft and Huayou. ![]() One man told us that the Chinese traders at the market bought all the cobalt and sold it mainly to one Chinese company, Congo Dongfang Mining, known locally as CDM.ĬDM is owned by global Chinese giant Huayou, which said they stopped buying from that market last year and have put in place a detailed program to eliminate child labor from their supply chain.īut in this murky process of sourcing cobalt, one thing is clear children are still here, carrying the weight of our high-tech world on their shoulders.ĬBS News spoke with eight major electronic and vehicle companies who have been connected to this supply chain, and though many have joined initiatives to solve this problem, at the mines Patta visited our team saw little evidence of anyone on the ground helping these children. When we offered to sell a truck load of cobalt, nobody asked us who mined the mineral, only what the quality was. CBS News wanted to see whether there was any attempt to check at the market whether the cobalt had been mined by children, so Patta's team went back later, with a hidden camera. In general, cobalt ores mined in the DRC are transported to refineries in China and other countries where they are processed into refined cobalt (e.g., HS 2822.00, HS 8105.20). The children's cobalt is brought to a large market where it is bought by a Chinese company for extremely low prices. cobalt (HS 2605.00), as well as the concentration of global cobalt refining capacity in China. Sacks were already mixed up - without labels - making it impossible to know who had mined the mineral inside. ![]() We followed the mineral as it left the mines - piled high on every mode of transport available, including bicycles. The sales of cobalt for the firm increased. More company responses:īut our investigation shows just how complicated it is to trace child-mined cobalt in the global supply chain. Late last year, the company purchased a stake in another cobalt ore project in DRC, where a mine holds an estimated 3.1 million metric tons of the metal. ![]() Samsung said it's mapping its supply chain, and Tesla explained it performs audits, and has very little cobalt in its batteries. Microsoft told us it does not tolerate child labor and that it is working with NGOs to eliminate it. Mineral's obscurity poses problems for tech companies 02:27Īpple said it leads the industry in supply chain standards, and last year cut ties with the largest artisanal cobalt supplier.
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