David Sturmes News Today

Cobalt is a critical component in the production of batteries, smartphones, jet engines and electric vehicles. Yet miners who risk their lives digging it up receive almost none of the profits.

Satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs shows the dramatic growth of copper and cobalt mines in and around the city of Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

DRC, the world’s largest cobalt producer, is struggling to impose structure among the artisanal miners in the country.

Artisanal mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo is tainting the sectors image, with government attempts to clear up the illegal mines at a near standstill.