The photographic reportage “Bloody batteries”, by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, on Der Spiegel Online.
A photo who documents a new form of colonialism in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, is published on Der Spiegel Online.
A new form of colonialism is threatening the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country where the governor of the province of Katanga has made 14 million hectares of land available to foreign investors. More than half of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Katanga region, in Southeastern country. Cobalt and other strategic minerals, such as lithium and nickel, are present in the new rechargeable lithium ion batteries that power a new generation of electric cars, but also the smartphones, tablets and computers that we use every day.
See the article here: https://bit.ly/2Sx6TLk
See the images here: https://bit.ly/2W0ZQN4
Kolwezi mining district, Lualaba province, DRC. Cobalt is extracted by a multitude of makeshift miners working in open-cast mines, located along streams and rivers. The miners have only their physical strength and some local tools to carry out their work.
