The green revolution is fueling global demand for cobalt, an essential component in the batteries that power electric vehicles, the magnets in wind turbines and much more. More than 10% of the world's cobalt comes from artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) in DRC, which is a significant amount that cannot be overlooked, nor ignored.
The media tends to portray ASM cobalt in a negative light, emphasising of all the health, safety and human rights risks—miners dying, child labour, informal practices—without acknowledging the other part of the equation, with other actors that benefit from ASM or share responsibility with the situation around ASM: large-scale mining (LSM), downstream companies and local government actors
Pete Pattisson's recent piece in The Guardian was refreshing in its investigation into the practices of LSM. They must be held to the same standards.
Yet, in order to improve conditions for miners across the board, everyone needs to step up and take on their responsibility. One solution is to build partnerships between LSM and ASM. A successful example of this was a partnership between international commodity trader Trafigura, local LSM company Chemaf, local mining cooperative COMIAKOL, DRC technical services supervising ASM, and Pact, the international development organisation where I work, at the Mutoshi Cobalt Pilot Project in Kolwezi in southern DRC.
The holistic approach consisted of shared responsibility between the ASM cooperative, who committed to abiding by health, safety and environmental standards, and the LSM company, who implemented controls, provided technical support and conducted due diligence by assessing and responding to risks.
This ASM formalisation project generated a win-win situation for all, demonstrating that sourcing responsibly for ASM is possible and economically viable, while generating positive economic and social spillovers into the local community. Decent work leads not only to improved productivity but better individual and community wellbeing.
It's critical that we think about the ASM miners who produce our cobalt. Yet many companies take the tack of disengaging from sourcing cobalt from the DRC because of its history of abuses and risks, including clashes between artisanal miners and security forces, dangerous working conditions resulting in fatalities or child labor. The challenges with DRC's cobalt supply chains are real. Rather than pull away, we must work with stakeholders to be responsible and address the issues. De-risking strategies will only make matters worse, because miners will continue to work under dangerous conditions while being stigmatized. Child labor will remain unaddressed and those who benefit the most from minerals will not be held accountable for their lack of action and due diligence.
As an answer to such challenges, some mining companies choose to implement blockchain solutions as a ‘golden' answer that will provide the assurance required from their buyers to demonstrate that their minerals are traceable and therefore not tainted with minerals coming from artisanal sites.
While traceability may tell us where minerals come from, it does not guarantee that they were mined responsibly. Did the miner have to pay a corrupt state agent or soldier at the site to get his ore out? Were children involved in mining minerals? Were minerals mined under safe conditions?
Traceability and technology will never be able to tell us this. It requires ongoing monitoring with a mechanism to record, report and mitigate risks by engaging with various stakeholders and making them accountable for acting and resolving risks. So, while blockchain can help to trace minerals from a mine to the consumer, this is just one small - and limited - aspect of responsible sourcing.
Formalizing the ASM sector will take time. We're talking about thousands of people working at hundreds of sites. Since the beginning of 2021, I've been working with Trafigura and the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC) to develop and implement controls and traceability associated with ASM cobalt production and trade in the DRC. We have started to lay the groundwork for training and monitoring of the implementation of the EGC Responsible Sourcing Standard, and are working to build a common understanding among local actors from government, industry and civil society of what should be achieved in terms of standards.
As anyone familiar with working on complex efforts with many layers, progress is not as fast as we may hope. With the right decisions and engagement from local actors and government, we could move faster.
Nevertheless, our work and experience so far have proven that it is possible to source minerals from the ASM sector responsibly and to build the confidence of downstream companies in this. This is the only way we will keep mineral buyers engaged, which is the only way to improve the sector and miners' lives and increase consumer confidence in the products they buy.
I urge more companies to engage in the right ways: mapping their supply chains; committing to engaging economically with, and sourcing from, ASM miners; conducting their due diligence upstream and downstream; and contributing to social programs in mining communities. Companies must give miners the market access they need to benefit from the resources that surround them and form the green revolution.
We will never get everything right. Abuses will still occur. But we can strive to continuously raise standards across the ASM sector. This is the only way to meaningfully and sustainably impact and transform local livelihoods. For consumers to get their renewable batteries, we must ensure that the producers behind them are treated fairly.
Mickaël Daudin is the Deputy Director of Pact's mining program, Mines to Markets, which works in partnership with governments, industry and artisanal miners to make ASM formal, safer and more productive and equitable.
