Abstract
The consumption of cobalt has tripled globally over the last decade, largely driven by rising demand for electronics and electric-battery vehicles. This fast-growing market has pressured multinational mining companies operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest supplier of cobalt, to formalize artisanal mining under the banner of responsible sourcing. Based on field research in the cobalt-rich Province of Lualaba, survey data and interviews with relevant actors, this article examines the integration of artisanal miners in corporate-led formalization projects. First, we suggest that the reliance on wageless artisanal workers in large-scale industrial operations holds important lessons for understanding the unintended effects of mining formalization. Second, the flexible recruitment of artisanal workers by mining companies represents an emergent trend of corporate outsourcing of responsibility.
Highlights
The consumption of critical minerals and metals such as cobalt has expanded dramatically in response to decarbonization efforts and the growing prevalence of digital technologies and electric battery vehicles
Despite being formally under the management of Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM) with monitoring and documentary traceability provided by Responsible Cobalt Sourcing Global Group (RCS), as in Kasulo, the concession resembles a large artisanal mining site with rich cooper and cobalt deposits, washing sections, and a fluctuating workforce
As we have seen in the cobalt-rich area of Kolwezi, the formalization of the cobalt mining sector has occurred under the aegis of corporate-led labor regimes in collaboration with local cooperatives acting as labor recruiters
Summary
The consumption of critical minerals and metals such as cobalt has expanded dramatically in response to decarbonization efforts and the growing prevalence of digital technologies and electric battery vehicles. The 2016 release of the Amnesty International Report “This is what we die for,”compounded by the December 2019 lawsuit filed in the United States against tech companies for the use of child labor in cobalt mines, brought further attention to the cobalt industry’s complex and global ized supply chain.5 These revelations engendered widespread media attention and calls for consumer action, pressuring companies down stream to investigate their contractors and subcontractors more thor oughly to avoid any further reputational and material risks, and leading to the creation of “model mines” where artisanal miners could mine in conditions deemed secure within corporate concessions. In these “mixed” mines, artisanal miners are entangled by a force of needs but have been formally integrated by large-scale mining operators
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