Bulldozers are hollowing out a cavernous new canyon that is essential to the world’s urgent struggle against global warming just up a red dirt road over an area of tall, dew-soaked plants.
This pristine terrain was under the custody of an American corporation for more than a decade. Now that it is purchased, a Chinese mining corporation is scrambling to recover its buried treasure: millions of tonnes of cobalt.
Kisan, a region in southeast Congo, is home to one of the world’s biggest and purest undiscovered cobalt sources.
Historically, the metal, often mined from copper resources, has been of secondary importance to miners. However, demand is required to skyrocket globally since it is used in electric car batteries, allowing them to run for extended periods without recharging.
However, the hunt for Congo’s cobalt has revealed how the clean energy revolution, intended to save the earth from dangerously rising temperatures, has become mired in a familiar cycle of exploitation, greed, and deceit, according to a New York Times investigation.
The conflict between China and the US (United States), in particular, may have far-reaching consequences for the shared objective of environmental protection. At least in Congo, China has so far won that fight, with both the Obama and Trump administrations standing quietly by as a Chinese government-backed business purchased two of the country’s primary cobalt resources during the last five years.
China Molybdenum, the site’s new owner since late last year, purchased it from Freeport-McMoRan. This American mining conglomerate was one of Congo’s major cobalt producers for five years ago.
In June, the Biden administration warned that China might exploit its expanding cobalt supremacy to suffocate the American effort toward electric vehicles by squeezing out American manufacturers. According to a national security official familiar with the situation, the US is lobbying for access to cobalt supply from allies such as Australia and Canada.
American manufacturers such as Ford, GM, and Tesla use cobalt battery components from vendors who rely on Chinese-owned mines in Congo. A Tesla vehicle with a more fantastic range takes around 10 pounds of cobalt, more than 400 times the quantity found in a cellphone.
A study of records filed with Chinese regulatory officials by the Times reveals that the Congo purchases followed a strict pattern.
According to a data study by the Times and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, 15 of the 19 cobalt-producing mines in Congo were owned or funded by Chinese enterprises as of last year.
These Chinese firms have received at least $12 billion in loans and other finance from government-backed entities. According to the data obtained by the Times, the five largest Chinese mining businesses in Congo have $124 billion in lines of credit from state-backed banks.
China Molybdenum purchased the Kisanfu property as one of two significant transactions in recent years. The first occurred in 2016 when it took over Tenke Fungurume, a mine that generates twice as much cobalt as any other country on the planet. According to financial documents, at least $1.59 billion of the $2.65 billion Tenke Fungurume price tag came from loans granted by Chinese state-owned banks.
At the same time, according to papers seen by the Times and conversations with current and former top US officials, Chinese corporations are facing fresh challenges from the Congolese government.
Congolese officials are conducting a broad examination of previous mining contracts, which they are undertaking with financial assistance from the US government.
Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, appointed a panel in August to examine charges that China Molybdenum, the firm that purchased the two Freeport-McMoRan assets, defrauded the Congolese government of billions of dollars in royalties. The corporation faces expulsion from Congo.
Separately, at least a dozen Tenke Fungurume mine employees or contractors told the Times that Chinese ownership had resulted in a severe decrease in safety and a spike in accidents, many of which have not been reported to management.
The competition between China and US (United States), in particular, may have far-reaching consequences for the shared global aim of environmental protection.
