Posted by Katie Singer
www.electronicsilentspring.com
Coltan (short for Columbite-tantalite) is a black, tar-like mineral. Refining makes coltan a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electric charge. Refined coltan is a crucial element in devices that store energy, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, digital still cameras, video cameras, ink jet printers, hearing aids, pacemakers, jet enginines, X-ray film and pagers.
The Congo holds 64% of the world's coltan. Mining for coltan has contributed to mass rapes and more loss of life than any other single situation since World War II. Unfortunately, to satisfy our hunger for electronics, corporations will pay any price for coltan and other minerals required for devices to work.
To learn more, check out:
Consuming the Congo: War and Conflict Minerals in the World's Deadliest Place by Peter Eichstaedt.
http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/coltan.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/congos-tragedy-the-war-theworld:forgot-6101835.html
http://www.projectcensored.org/5-high-tech-genocide-in-congo/
Posted by Katie Singer