C4 Unit 4 Media Assignment

Have they ever posed the question; where is all of this coming from? It begins in the Republic of Congo, where the mineral coltan is quarried. Coltan, used commonly in smart phones and computers, is in high demand, demand so high, it can lead to the death of hundreds of citizens that are being forced to mine it. As the CBC news article “Coltan; A New Blood Mineral” apprises its reader, numerous more community’s lives will be permanently altered by the mining of coltan. “Potential mines are also being explored in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greenland, Mozambique, the United States, Finland, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Colombia.” (CBC) it is claimed. This can only mean countless more residents may be forced out of their homes, or to work in atrocious, inhumane conditions mining for the North American obsession. Though Sylvie, from Blue Gold, is a fictional character, the conflicts that she faces on an unvarying basis are a reality for innumerable African people at any given moment. However, with the nickname ‘blood mineral’, it is insinuated that coltan is the culprit, though this is not the case. As Sylvie bluntly puts it, “‘Coltan is just a rock. [...] It’s the fighters who hurt people” (Stewart 163), something the people in the Congo may forget. It is the simple truth that coltan mining is inevitable. The

In chapter three of Extracted, the author one of those minerals considered as conflict-minerals, gold. Throughout this chapter, the author did not use the term conflict-minerals. He calls them precious metals or metal commodities. The author talks about how obtaining these minerals by waging war on countries that had them created a complex society. For example, the British Empire was built on gold, the Persian Empire, and may more.

Uranium opened up with an historical account of a uranium mine in the African Congo named Shinkolobwe. He quite visually discussed his trip to the Congo and the mine itself. To add background information, the author recounted the history of the Congo, from its early days under the imperial power of King Leopold to its present status of disarray and corruption. In the late 19th century, Congo became the heart of the rubber sap industry, and its poor residents were forced into slavery. Quotas of rubber sap were established, and workers who failed to meet those goals had their limbs severed.

The Congolese who mine these materials do not even know what they are extracting, and have no use for them in their daily lives. In spite of the fact that the Congo is blessed with a wealth of common assets, including diamonds, gold, cobalt, copper, tin and tantalum, this valuable focal point is not utilized to expand on the nations riches as a result of the little advancement that has happened since

Blood diamond are “diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council”. Blood Diamond is a story about the precious gem acquired through blood and sufferings of common people. How much blood is spilt for each pieces of this luxury, how many tears dried into the very ground it is gathered from. Except from the people that are involved in the whole process of stealing or smuggling a nation’s natural wealth. Sierra Leone, where the storyline takes place, gets nothing. Its people are suffering through extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and diseases. Adding insult to injury, there is a fast emerging brutal terrorist group called RUF, destroying the system, collapsing government, killing innocents and taking children as soldiers. Making sure the country never progress and prosper or never grow the backbone to stand on its feet ever to use the valuable diamonds it holds on the ground. For example, when the illegal and unethical blood diamond trade was brought to light, it was ignored by the most potentially influential global players because of economic interest. What resulted was that the situation snowballed over the duration that it has occurred over and when the issue finally came to a head

In one online article, the author quotes a man that was a part of the mining in Congo, and shows how the trade of conflict minerals across the world is funding a war. He says that more

Despite all these positive economic impacts, this industry is plagued with contention and conflict. (Sagebien, 2008) Anti-development effects of mining thought of as the “resource curse” includes twisted economics, unfavourable social and environmental consequences at the community level, domestic economic dependence on extraction to the exclusion of other more sustainable industries, loss of

The Democratic Republic of Congo has always been an extremely poor country. They rank as the poorest country in the world but have a high number of natural resources (“World Without Genocide”). The Congo has an unemployment rate of around ninety-five percent, more than half of the Congo people do not have access to clean water, and their mortality rates among children is highest of any country in world (“Congo Voice”). Their economic situation made it even harder for the

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the largest African countries located in central Africa. Congo is a country that has grown out of a history of Belgian colonisation. Congo also has a long history of an unstable government with a lot of problems with internal corruption. Being a land rich on natural resources with a poor government, Congo has been the perfect target for foreign exploitation of the lands resources. There is a high demand for cobalt from first world countries and the demand keeps rising every year. The current battery technology enables big technology companies to sell small handheld technological devices. Congo is one of the worlds leading supplier of cobalt. Almost half of the worlds cobalt was mined there. This cobalt can be found in any rechargeable battery such as the battery of a laptop or a smartphone. A cobalt rich battery has enabled us to have phones small enough to can fit in our pockets. These litihium-ion batteries can contain up to 10 grams of refined cobalt. Refined cobalt is the most expensive element in these batteries. Today, several Chinese companies are buying cheap cobalt from Congolese miners who working under dangerous conditions. The Congolese people are poor and desperate enough to do the hard and dangerous work. Families are forced involve their children in the mining work to be able to survive. The work pays less than minimum wage. The foreign mining business in Congo has caused Congolese people to sacrifice their

Human blood is shed on almost every diamond mined in Africa, bought from Africa, or traded out of Africa. In the beginning of Aryn Baker’s article “Dirty Diamonds” in TIME magazine, Baker presents a man conflicted with his decision to buy an engagement ring, because he does not want “. . . a symbol of our union to also be associated with chaos and controversy and pain.” (Baker 64). This man in the example, Max Rodriguez, undoubtedly knew of the backbreaking work that children are subjected to, to provide for their families or to raise money to receive an education. Baker argues that the diamond industry in Africa hinders the development of children, nations, and that this problem may be too large to control as she appeals to logic, evoking

Despite its immense potential, very little of this wealth has benefited the Congolese people. Instead, all of its riches have attracted adventurers, warlords, corrupt governments, and unscrupulous corporations, and divided the population into competing groups. This is the main source of the conflict that rids the majority of eastern DRC (“The world factbook,” 2017).

Little things in life can impact the world in many ways whether it's good or bad. In this case right now the Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing a big conflict with these minerals. The type of minerals people are fighting for are mined from the floor tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold are the one that they're looking for. This is a big deal because the mineral trade has been linked to other crimes that rebel groups who commit mass atrocities, including rape and murder. It may not seem like a big deal but numbers don't lie , but you'll be surprised what they use these minerals for. They use these minerals to make phones,laptops(which I'm using right now so ironic right), light bulbs , a pair of earrings you name it. We are preventing

The Eastern Congo is considered a weak state because of the corruption, poverty and war. The Eastern Congo has a large amount of natural resources which should be an asset to the country, but war and rebel groups are feuding over these resources. The corruption and feud over these resources weakens that state. The Eastern Congo has a large amount of farmland that is not utilized and could be used to feed most of Africa, but conflict and control deter the people from utilizing the farmland[1]. The argument over these resources is ultimately affecting the civilians. Many of these disputes have existed for decades. I was astonished to hear that there have been 5.4 million deaths since 1994 in Eastern Congo, most of which are civilians and less

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in Central Africa, struggles daily because the government fails. The country has been in civil conflicts for nearly a decade, this however is not the main health hazard. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Congo was a popular location for slave trade, while foreign powers intruded they also exposed the area to their diseases that have remained for centuries. These diseases have developed

After coltan has been mined and refined, it becomes a heat resistant powder that can carry high electrical charges. Coltan is collected and used in many different ways. Coltan is used in almost every piece of technology because it controls energy flow in circuit boards in Ipads, computers, laptops, cell phones, pagers, and many other electronics. Coltan is also very expensive. One kilogram of coltan, or about two pounds, can cost up to 400 dollars (What is Coltan?). Because of the enormous revenue coltan can bring, neighboring countries such as Uganda and Rwanda started to illegally smuggle coltan for profit. Coltan is apart of the “conflict minerals” along with tin, tantalum, and tungsten. Armed groups fight to control the mines, and the smuggling routes. The DRC’s government and the armed groups are in a constant battle of control over the mines, and they are willing to kill or rape anyone who gets in their way. Including innocent civilians (Conflict Minerals). The increase in conflict of control over coltan, and other mining minerals has turned Congo into an endless