https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/the-dark-side-of-congos-cobalt-rush Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker A Reporter at Large May 31, 2021 Issue The Dark Side of Congo's Cobalt Rush Cell phones and electric cars rely on the mineral, causing a boom in demand. Locals are hunting for this buried treasure--but are getting almost none of the profit. By Nicolas Niarchos May 24, 2021 * * * * * Save this story for later. three people digging under a house After cobalt was discovered beneath one neighborhood, Congolese began digging under their houses. Some tunnels extended into neighbors' properties.Illustration by Pola Maneli * * * * * Save this story for later. In June, 2014, a man began digging into the soft red earth in the back yard of his house, on the outskirts of Kolwezi, a city in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As the man later told neighbors, he had intended to create a pit for a new toilet. About eight feet into the soil, his shovel hit a slab of gray rock that was streaked with black and punctuated with what looked like blobs of bright-turquoise mold. He had struck a seam of heterogenite, an ore that can be refined into cobalt, one of the elements used in lithium-ion batteries. Among other things, cobalt keeps the batteries, which power everything from cell phones to electric cars, from catching fire. As global demand for lithium-ion batteries has grown, so has the price of cobalt. The man suspected that his discovery would make him wealthy--if he could get it out of the ground before others did. Southern Congo sits atop an estimated 3.4 million metric tons of cobalt, almost half the world's known supply. In recent decades, hundreds of thousands of Congolese have moved to the formerly remote area. Kolwezi now has more than half a million residents. Many Congolese have taken jobs at industrial mines in the region; others have become "artisanal diggers," or creuseurs. Some creuseurs secure permits to work freelance at officially licensed pits, but many more sneak onto the sites at night or dig their own holes and tunnels, risking cave-ins and other dangers in pursuit of buried treasure. Published in the print edition of the May 31, 2021, issue, with the headline "Buried Dreams." Nicolas Niarchos has contributed to The New Yorker since 2014. He is currently working on a book about the global cobalt industry. More:CongoBatteriesChinaCell PhonesAfricaMiningMineralsDemocratic Republic of the CongoChinese This Week's Issue Never miss a big New Yorker story again. Sign up for This Week's Issue and get an e-mail every week with the stories you have to read. Enter your e-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info