Cobalt Red

A book by Siddharth Kara that illustrates the dark side of our technology filled lives

If you have used an Apple iPad or a Samsung tab and the new pencil-like devices magically stick to the side, it is because they use mini-magnets. These use either Neodymium magnets or Samarium-Cobalt magnets. The Cobalt magnets are considered superior to the Neodymium magnets because they can operate in higher temperature ranges and can be used in corrosive environments.

They are also known as strong magnets. If you have ever used an iron magnet, you know that it loses its strength as time goes by. Also, the strength of the magnet is directly proportional to the size of it.

Magnets are used everywhere. For frivolous features like sticking your pencil/pen to the side of a tablet. In motors which are essentially copper wound around a magnet. Also, in all batteries Cobalt does a lot of the heavy lifting although they are known as Lithium Ion Batteries. You most likely end up with Lithium Cobalt Oxide or Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide.

Safe to say - We are surrounded by stuff that has Cobalt in it.

Half of the Cobalt in the world comes out of a country that used to be called Zaire, today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Southern region of the DRC is rich in Cobalt and Copper which are both important for the “Green Economy” that the world is embarking on.

Congo has a sad history. The Europeans went into the country wanting to civilize them. They accidentally found copper ore. The Belgians who took control of Congo under King Leopold engaged in a combination of Genocide, Ethnocide and Slavery of a kind experienced in very few places across the world.

Towards the end of the 21st century, the country seemed to have secured independence and was starting on a path to renewal. They had just started figuring things out when the craze for everything electric started and alongside that craze capitalism (a.k.a. Neo-colonialism) arrived taking the country down a very dark path.

The book Cobalt Red written by Siddharth Kara is an investigative journey through the mines of the country. At risk to his own life, he documents his travels across to the south of the country where most of the mines are situated in places such as Lubumbashi and Kolwezi. Through first-hand accounts, he illustrates the lives of the people who play a critical role in the mining of cobalt in the country and the consequences that they must face.

There are two types of mining carried out in Congo - Open Pit Mining where people do not die every day and artisanal mining where handmade tunnels are used to dig out ore. These tunnels routinely collapse and it is normal for people working in these mines to either die (if they are fortunate) or be rescued with dozens of fractures and rendered useless for the rest of their lives. The video below is an example of the conditions in which these miners work.

Most miners work for about a dollar a day and the author does an incredible job of illustrating how opaque the supply chain is. If any company tells you their minerals are not sourced through child labour and forced labour, they are most certainly lying. The detailed descriptions of the supply chain leave no doubt that there is literally no way to keep track. None.

Cobalt Red is a difficult book to read which the author wrote with the explicit intention of bringing to light the condition of the miners in Congo. His hope is that action would be taken and people would demand change once they come to know about the plight of the people who make our gleaming techno-utopian life possible.

His message, if you have any electronic device, you have blood on your hands.